The Ravens of Avalon
by nemaara
Summary: Medieval AU - Raven is a powerful sorceress and Jinx is her only friend. The Titans are Knights of the Round Table and they believe that Raven is evil. A confrontation between them seems to be inevitable, but when trouble shows its face on the borders of their country, it is up to the Titans to understand Raven better and seek her help. Rated a strong M for explicit scenes.
1. Raven and Cat

Disclaimer: Teen Titans is not mine

I've always wanted to do a medieval type story for Teen Titans and finally got around to starting it. A bit of intro...

This story follows a setup similar to that of the old King Arthur legends, with the Knights of the Round Table, fighting off Saxons, and lady Morgan le Fey, etc. etc. Here, Some of the Titans will represent the knights, while Raven will represent Morgan le Fey - and friends. Most of this story takes place near/around Camelot and Avalon, the homes of the Titan knights and Raven respectively. If you don't know anything about Camelot/King Arthur, it might be helpful to go look it up before starting this story if you want to, but it isn't necessary to have any prior knowledge.

The plot follows Raven, a powerful sorceress like Morgan le Fey, and Jinx, a younger apprentice of sorts, in Avalon, and their dealings with the Titans/Knights of the Round Table. While a confrontation brews between them, trouble lurks on the borders of the country, threatening to destroy everything, and it is up to the Titans to seek Raven's help to defeat these enemies.

One last thing - This story happens to be rated M for a very good reason - **do not read it if you are under 18 or uncomfortable with explicit situations.**

Happy reading ~

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

* * *

"Jinx. Jinx, are you there?" A voice called out, quiet, but clear - there was a ringing, sort of melodic quality to it, despite it's initial somewhat gravelly sound.

A pink haired girl hurried across the grass grounds of Avalon, toward a large, cathedral-like building at the center of Avalon. Her mistress's castle, almost like a gothic church, ornate, beautiful, its colored spires reaching high into the sky. She lifted her dark skirt and walked inside, the entrance hall greeting her eyes.

As usual, it was dark inside - her mistress did not like light very much - the only light coming through the stained glass windows around the room, casting glowing shadows on the many paintings that lined the walls and the enormous mural on the ceiling. A sight that she had seen many times, but never failed to awe her with how intricate and detailed everything was. But right now, her mistress was calling.

She hurried to the far end of the room and walked through the open door, into the throne room. A slightly more spacious place, also with many paintings and stained glass windows, as well as several statues lining the walls, all of females dressed in long robes, their faces stoic and impassive, but radiating some sort of awesome power as well. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but she knew that everything was made of some sort of smooth, dark stone, probably obsidian, not like the usual stuff that made up castles, which lent the entire place an ethereal, haunting quality. Some outsiders that had managed to find this castle had called it evil, a place for demons, witches, monsters and the like, but there was very little truth in those impressions. Her mistress was different, yes, but still a regular human. She just had powers that most people didn't have.

Jinx looked at the throne, where a single figure was laying, sideways, legs splayed over one arm of the massive chair, head resting on a pillow atop the other arm. Eyes closed from what she could tell, perhaps half asleep, or just resting.

"You called for me, lady?" She approached the throne.

"I did. We will have visitors soon."

Jinx blinked. "Visitors? But nobody ever comes here."

A pair of brilliant, sparkling violet eyes opened. "Be prepared."

The pinkette looked down at the resting figure, her pink cat eyes filled with questions, but judging by her mistress's demeanor, she probably didn't want to be bothered. She kept looking. A small, lithe figure who, when she stood, seemed much, much larger than she actually was. Probably a couple inches shorter than Jinx herself, who was maybe only five and a half feet tall. Dressed in loose fitting black robes, normally with a hood over her head, but right now it had fallen off, revealing her impassive, yet quite striking face. Those half lidded eyes still sparkling, dark lashes and dark brow casting shadows over them, shoulder length violet hair, very pale, slightly greyish skin, and that face - Jinx tore her eyes away, blushing faintly. Her mistress was beautiful, at least she thought so, even if she was so cold.

The violet eyes looked back. One of the last sorceresses, she recalled. People with some sort of magical power, most were dead and gone - a few served at Camelot, served the king, and here, just her. And Jinx. Jinx reminded her of a cat, often times, yes, everything about her seemed like a cat. Her body, the shape of her face, the two horns that she kept her pink hair in... She closed her eyes.

"Lady Raven?"

"Tell the servants to begin preparing supper."

Jinx nodded, curtsied, and left.

* * *

They ate in silence, just the two of them, in the large dining hall off to the side of the throne room. As usual, Raven sat at the far end of the table, away - she always seemed to prefer to keep some distance between her and others, perhaps as a mark of solitude. And as usual, Jinx was rather surprised at how little Raven ate, just a bit of soup, some bread, no more. But then, she always drank so much tea that maybe that made up for it. Well, probably not. Maybe that was why she was so distant all the time. Undernourished, perhaps.

Raven rose, her hood covering the upper part of her face save for those two eyes, glowing out from within the darkness. She floated away - Jinx still couldn't figure out that trick, how could someone _fly? _- and a servant came and cleaned up after she had gone.

"Shall I get you something else to eat, Lady Jinx?" A servant approached her. "Is the food not to your liking?"

Jinx blinked and looked down, realizing that she had been staring at Raven and had not even taken a bite yet.

"No," she replied after a moment. "The food is fine."

The servant bowed and withdrew, leaving her to think alone.

* * *

Sometimes, they slept together. Jinx couldn't figure out why someone so distant, so cold, would sleep with another person, and another _girl _at that, but in truth she didn't mind. Actually, quite honestly, she enjoyed it.

Jinx ascended a staircase, then another one, walked through a dark hall and opened the door to the room at the end quietly, wondering if Raven was awake. Sparkling violet eyes. Of course she was awake. Raven always seemed to be awake, no matter what time of day it was. Jinx was not even sure if, and when she slept. It was probably due to her powers, since she could sense everything nearby, even while asleep.

She took a step in. Raven said nothing, but in her case, that was an invitation rather than a protest.

Jinx slipped out of her robe, revealing her smooth, bare body, pale and lusty in the moonlight. Perhaps it was her disposition, as the more youthful one, more approachable one, but lately she had been applying a razor to her - parts - and so as she approached, nothing of her nether regions was hidden to Raven. The dark sorceress blinked and shifted slightly as Jinx drew the blankets off of her body slightly and slid in over her.

A light hiss. The air was slightly chilly, winter was coming, and as her bare chest was exposed to it, the nubs at the center of her mounds hardened, increasing their sensitivity tenfold. Jinx ran a hand over Raven's chest, then lowered her mouth, sucking, biting lightly, eliciting a low, quiet moan from the violet haired girl beneath her. Her head lifted. Raven felt the wetness on her chest grow cold as she was exposed to the open air, causing her nipples to harden even more. And then winced a little as Jinx sucked on the soft flesh on her neck, leaving a red mark as her mouth lifted again, back to Raven's chest. A hand traveled down, across her firm, somewhat soft abdomen, tracing circles around her navel, then down further, brushing through the soft, dark hair, twirling the curls between her fingers for a while, then to her mistress's hot, pulsing wet core. Her fingers entered, pushed up, worked at it for a couple minutes, then out again, moving to the slightly protruding nub at the top of the violet haired girl's opening, squeezing lightly, back down, pulling at the wet down along the lips of her area, then inside again, pushing for another couple minutes before Raven's back arched and her toes curled. She bit her lip, sweating lightly, emitted a louder half-moan, half-growl, and felt her insides tighten up, releasing onto Jinx's hand, soaking the bed beneath her.

Raven lay back, blushing faintly as Jinx moved her mouth down again.

"Wait," she said quietly, voice still a little hoarse. "Not yet."

A black tendril appeared from underneath the blankets and wrapped around Jinx's leg, coiling upward. "You first."

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through the window. Not the harsh, bright sunlight of the rest of the world, no, here in Avalon, it was softer, slightly darker, somewhat red instead of yellow, or perhaps deep orange, almost like fire. A permanent sunset, perhaps. Raven felt a warm body next to her own, the girl's arm wrapped around her waist. A smell rose and reached her nose, the smell of...

It was not unpleasant, no, but it reminded her of her own slick, slightly sticky skin and of the fact that her bed needed washing. Her eyes shifted over to the curtain, and black energy surrounded the drapes, closing them. She rather disliked sunlight. Moonlight was okay, good even, but sunlight she could do without. A hand ran down her thigh, caressing the smooth skin.

She felt a wetness between her legs once more but fought down the thoughts running through her mind, and turned, coming face to face with the pinkette. Jinx stirred slightly, blinked a few times, then her eyes opened fully.

"Morning already?"

Raven said nothing and stared up at the ceiling, eyes half lidded. And then she turned back.

"Noon." The dark sorceress sat up, clutching the blankets around her chest and her eyes moved around.

Darkness gathered around her and she was dressed in her usual dark robe once more.

"I must go bathe. Tell the servants that my bed requires washing."

"Yes, my lady."

Raven's body shifted into a shapeless form of black energy, then a pair of red eyes opened, the form molded into that of a raven, and she flew out of the room. Jinx lay there for a few minutes, looking around at the dark room, taking in her mistress's smell, the couple strands of violet hair on her pillow, then got up as well.

* * *

Atop the highest spire of her cathedral-castle, reaching high into the air, looking down upon all of Avalon, eyes still half closed, she took in the sight of her home, her empty home, save for some servants, she herself, and Jinx.

Avalon was an island, a particularly large island surrounded by marshes and the shallow waters of a large, wide lake, and by dense mist, mists so dense that most people who tried to come to the island using a boat inevitably never reached the island, instead turning somewhere somehow and returning to normal lands. Those who tried to come through the marshes usually got lost and had to be rescued, and in every case, it was done by people on the other side. Raven never rescued anyone. Well, they never needed it from her, at least that was her logic. After all, nobody had died - they simply turned back and eventually someone from the normal lands belonging to Camelot would come save them.

Her gaze shifted inwards. A very large island, physically much larger than would have been possible by normal standards - it must have been much larger than the lake surrounding it, yet it was well contained at the very center of the water. The dim, reddish-orange sunlight lit everything, illuminating the land with a soft glow, casting onto the ancient forests in one area, hills in another, and then onto the grassy plains where she and Jinx lived and others used to live, until they had all died of old age or had gone elsewhere, never to return. Their stone homes had already long been overrun by plants, but the gardens in which they grew herbs and the like as well as some farms containing animals were still maintained.

Time flowed differently in this realm, she knew, and part of its essence had worked itself into her body. She didn't know how long she had lived, but it must have been several centuries by normal human standards already, and yet she still retained her youthful form, that of a girl near twenty, a year or two older than Jinx, who was also showing signs of decelerated aging.

A soft wind blew by, blowing her hair into her face, and she moved the violet locks from her eyes, eyes casting downward again. She saw Jinx below, near the shore, this time wearing a white dress, lifting up the skirt portion and wading a little bit into the water, looking for something - fish, probably, for dinner. The girl loved fish.

She often came up here, feeling the wind flow past her face, like time, flowing before her eyes, slipping away, years into decades into centuries, living on through it all. Over time, she had gained vast knowledge of magical arts but perhaps she had lost a little of herself during those long years in isolation, with nobody, not even servants around, completely and utterly alone. Sorceresses were quite uncommon, after all, and most avoided Avalon, believing it to be a cursed place even though in truth, it was quite a beautiful land; perhaps they were thrown off by the dark buildings, the reddish glow of the sunlight, or the eeriness that they felt when they had come, the fact that there was _nobody _there, besides Raven, who seemed very much like a ghost, a specter haunting the grounds, someone long dead though she was still living.

That hadn't stopped Jinx from staying. For some reason, the girl had not been afraid of her - no, she actually wanted to learn and though Raven had difficulty teaching her because their magics were innately different, there were still vast libraries in Avalon that the girl could browse through and loci of energy to meditate on, to increase one's strength.

The servants were not real humans. She remembered a book from a sorceress long dead, a book detailing the creation of creatures similar to humans, but without souls, with limited sentience. A few experiments, and she had managed to replicate the sorceress's work, and so they, the two of them had some company, though both of them knew it was just them. Perhaps the girl did not mind for now, but Raven knew how wearying the long years alone could be. But she could not leave either, for she was a hated sorceress... hated for what reason she did not know. Perhaps she was just misunderstood. Yes, understanding those who were different was often difficult, especially in her case, with her reputation. Those who had seen her had not kept silent, no, they had spread rumors about her, a powerful sorceress living in these parts, an evil ghost that stole the souls of whoever wandered in, a remnant of Fae, those ancient creatures that no longer belonged to this world... either way, she had been marked as an evil sorceress for whatever the reason, and her rather impassive demeanor did not help any of that. No, on the surface, she appeared positively unfriendly. Even to Jinx, she appeared quite distant, though the pink haired girl had been able to see past that, sensing something more than simply what she saw. Perhaps that, too, was why the pinkette had stayed.

Raven had to admit that she did not care about many things. The outside world with all of its problems was none of her business, the people who happened to stumble into Avalon were also not her business, though she saw to it that they got out safely, albeit with slightly distorted memories so they were not truly sure who or what she was, and even her own life she did not care about much, for she saw no purpose in it, nor did she see any purpose in dying either. So she lived out life through the centuries comfortably, at least physically, though emotionally and mentally detached from everything.

Unhappy? Perhaps, though she had left behind feelings of grief a long time ago as well. Ill tempered, she had been, but with nobody to cross her anymore, and nothing to upset her, she was not sure how much of that remained. Happiness, love, joy, those things had been the first to go, after everyone had left, or died. A shell, some people might have called her, with nothing inside, no soul, no life. But, none of that mattered. Raven often wondered why she thought so much, but then that thought was cleared from her mind too.

Her eyes glowed and suddenly she was away, on the top of one of the hills, one with dense forests, a small clearing at its peak, with a small pool of water at its center.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," her voice was a low hum.

She crossed her legs and began floating, eyes closed. She meditated a lot; it helped keep her mental state as calm as it was, it helped keep her emotions far away, buried, it helped her feel more in touch with the raw flow of magical power around her, increasing her own strength, her own energies. Sometimes she would wade into the pool, feeling her clothes cling to her body, the water come up to her waist, then reach to her navel, she would sit down, feel the pure life contained within the liquid, feel it swirl within her...

And other times, she would wander the forests, the deep, rich forests, filled with various life forms, ancient trees, gliding between them, breathing the fresh air, wandering for hours, days, time and memories blurring together into one huge stream, a river of images, flowing before her eyes. She found herself unable to separate them, everything as one, trees, animals, earth, sunlight, moonlight, herself, everything mashed together.

She returned long after dark, returned to her spire and stared up at the moon for a while, then back to her room. She slept alone that night.

* * *

"Lady?" She sensed Jinx above her, but did not open her eyes.

And as usual, silence was taken as acknowledgement of her presence. Jinx was one of the few people who read her correctly in that aspect. If she had a protest, she would voice it. If there was no protest, then she would remain silent.

"I was planning to go ashore in a couple days. I was wondering if you could make me some dye so I can make colored cloths to sell."

Raven nodded, rising from her usual half-sleeping position on her throne. She knew that Jinx did that occasionally, return to the normal world to buy some things, food, trinkets and whatever, but since neither of them had any normal money anymore, they would have to sell something first. Luckily, there was plenty of flax to be had on Avalon, and Raven had taught Jinx how to treat it and weave it together so it was as soft as silk. But the girl was not as experienced as her in making dyes, and so she was still the one who did that.

To the garden, then to the forest, clipping some herbs, the roots of plants, stripping away small portions of tree bark, nothing that would harm the plants that she touched, but enough to produce some dye. She returned with two baskets filled with the plant parts and found Jinx waiting for her, several rolls of cloth ready. Wordlessly, they filled some pots with water, added the plant parts and cloth, watched as the water boiled, and waited.

Jinx fell asleep after a while, and when she woke in the morning, she found several brilliantly rolls of cloth waiting for her on the nearby table.

* * *

The boat she took was white, a small one, with a single, long oar that sort of resembled a staff. She dressed in full white as well, knowing that it would make her seem a little more innocent, lessen the chances of people suspecting that she was a sorceress. People in the outside world were obsessed with light, thinking that darkness was always evil.

Raven had trained her to use her senses to guide her through the mists so that she would not get lost, the most basic of training, which involved her sense of magical flow, not her eyesight. No, in fact eyesight was a hindrance, so Jinx's eyes were closed as she floated across the waters. She landed safely, made sure her boat was hidden within the mist, and then headed east, to where she knew a nearby village was.

Everyone was busy working, since winter was coming soon, and so there were huge piles of firewood everywhere, foods being preserved, women sewing thicker clothes for winter, and the like. She listened carefully for some of the prices people were charging for things and then found a pile of wood in a relatively clean corner of the market, near the blacksmith's forge.

"May I sit here?" Jinx asked the man near the pile of wood, who was busy chopping apart more logs.

"Sure," he replied gruffly.

As expected, people came quickly once they saw such high quality cloth, and especially once they heard that it was being sold so cheaply - after all, Jinx wasn't going to buy that much stuff, so she didn't need that much money. Besides, cloth and dye were easy to make, at least for her and Raven.

Money in hand, she began wandering the market, looking for things to buy. Some food, roast pork, vegetables, cheese... something caught her eye, a woman, the wife of a jeweler, selling a tiny, sparkling red gem cut in the shape of a diamond, flattened on one side. She bought it, then began to head out of the village when someone stopped her.

"Hey you!" A man, no, a boy?

He was dressed in full armor, wielding a staff and had a sword sheathed at his side, but his helmet was off. Strangely enough, he was wearing a mask over his eyes and his hair seemed rather unnaturally spiky - perhaps he had put something in it?

"Can I help you?"

"Do you live in these parts? I heard that there was this evil sorceress living around here and I mean to vanquish her in the name of the Titans of the Round Table, of Camelot."

Jinx giggled. "Sorceresses are all dead, silly. They're just legends."

He looked at her, blinking. "That is not what I heard. There was a old man who said he had seen her one day, when he was by the lake, trying to catch fish. He said that she tried to take his soul, but he managed to run away in time."

Another giggle. "You're funny. What's your name?"

"Me? I am Sir Richard, the Robin, one of the bravest Titans of the Round Table. So, are you sure you don't know where this lake is?"

"No clue. Are you sure you're not just making things up?"

"Yes, I am sure," Richard said rather grumpily. "Well, I'm going then. Stay safe!"

Jinx rolled her eyes and made sure he was out of sight before walking back in the direction of Avalon. _Guess he was talking about Mistress Raven. Oh well, a fool like him wouldn't be a match for her anyways. _

* * *

"Lady Raven, look at what I got you!" Jinx came running out of the boat, on both of her arms a couple baskets laden with food.

She set them down and pulled out a box from one of her dress pockets. Opening it, she revealed the sparkling red gem that she had bought. Raven approached her, gliding forward, and as she looked down, her eyes widened slightly.

"How much did you pay for this?"

"Hmm, maybe a few gold coins. Why?"

Raven took the gem between her fingers and held it up to the light. "Standard price for a normal gem of this quality," she muttered. "But what you bought is a chakra gem, one that has magical properties. They help you focus your magical energy." Raven's fingers clasped over it and she held it for a moment, feeling its warmth, before holding it back out to Jinx. "You should take it. It will help you focus your powers."

Jinx smiled. "But it is a gift. You always think so practically, mistress. Perhaps, just this once, consider this to be a present from... a friend?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Very well." The gem floated about above her hand, Raven's magic working at it for a few moments, before it rose up and attached itself to her forehead, resting between her eyes, centered slightly above her brow. "I shall wear it proudly," she said quietly and then her eyes turned back to the baskets on the ground. "I see you mean for us to have a feast tonight."

Jinx blushed. "There were so many tasty looking things in the market and I could not resist-"

"It is quite alright. Come, let us go inside."

* * *

Normally Raven didn't eat much food, let alone roasted meats, which tended to be very filling, but today she ate a fair amount of roasted pork, much more than Jinx would have expected. It was delicious after all, or maybe it was for some other reason that she was eating more... she certainly seemed a slight bit more active, and for her, such an emotionally distant person, perhaps that meant that she was a slight bit happier too. Jinx smiled. Maybe she could even get Raven to talk a little today, which was a rarity in itself. But sometimes the violet haired girl did, when she felt a little more in touch with reality.

"I met a Titan today," Jinx commented, stirring her soup, waiting for it to cool.

Raven stared at her, lowering her own spoon. Jinx took it as a motion for her to continue. "His name was Robin. He said he came to vanquish some evil sorceress in the area."

"So basically me," Raven said quietly.

"He seemed rather dumb."

"None of them is too bright," Raven replied. "One of them challenged me before. When he woke up, he spent three days thinking that he was a pig before he returned to normal."

Jinx laughed. "I didn't know you had a sense of humor, my lady."

Raven chose not to reply to that. She took another bite of pork, savoring the taste in her mouth. In truth, she no longer needed to eat very much anymore - most of her body could be sustained by gathering natural energies and absorbing them, but she still did enjoy the taste of some things from time to time, and besides it was Jinx who had brought them for her so why shouldn't she eat them? After all, the girl was the only one who was even remotely close to her.

She looked on quietly as one of the servants brought out some wine, probably at Jinx's request, some fine, red wine by the looks of it. A glass was set in front of her and some of the liquid poured in. She stared at it intently.

Jinx had already downed two glasses and looked a little bit tipsy.

"You should try some. It's good," Jinx told her.

Raven rolled her eyes and sipped at it quietly. After a moment, she felt the warmth spread throughout her body, the ever present tension in her muscles loosen a little, color flooding into her pale skin. She couldn't say that she liked the taste but... the effects of the alcohol were not wholly unpleasant. She sipped through the rest of the glass and looked up at Jinx.

"I would suggest that you not drink any more," she said quietly. "Before you get completely drunk."

Jinx hiccuped. "That... might be a good idea."

A servant cleaned up the dishes and Raven rose, but then turned back, seeing that Jinx could not quite stand properly. Wordlessly, she glided over, put one of the girl's arms around her shoulder, and began gliding upstairs to the second floor, where Jinx's room was. Jinx looked at her, hiccuped, and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

Raven remained silent, but glanced at her with glimmering violet eyes, and laid her down on her bed. She watched the girl's breathing slow as she rested, and then returned to her own room to read a book.

* * *

_Another sunlit day... _Raven frowned slightly, looking up at the sky. She much preferred Avalon when it was raining, as it often did, but it seemed that the sky was saving its water for winter, when it would be snow instead of rain. Her eyes narrowed - her body felt stiff, just sitting there, crouching there - and slowly she began to change form, shifting into black energy, red eyes opening, and became a raven of pure energy, without a body, without substance. And then she shrunk until she was the size of a normal bird, not wanting to stand out too much in case she would disturb the life on the rest of the island if she appeared as her normal giant raven.

Flying through the sky, weightless, elated, ecstatic, for her, at least, sense of peace, without thought, without worry, floating through tranquil nature, and she landed on the branch of a tree near the marshes leading to the normal human world.

Her eyes flashed as she sensed something and she remained motionless in position, waiting to see what was coming.

"Hello!" A voice called out. "Anyone home? Anyone? I could use some help here! Damn. Just had to get lost in this stupid swamp."

A figure emerged from the mist stepping out onto the grass. A figure in full armor, with a sword, its helmet off, tucked away beneath an arm. No, that wasn't strange. Knights were like that, although this one seemed a little short and thin. What was strange was the fact that his skin was _green. _Maybe he was diseased.

No, a diseased person wouldn't be able to move so well in full armor. Perhaps he was just weird. He looked up - his eyes were green too - and stared at the raven in the tree. It looked back at him, as if studying his youthful face.

"Okay. Creepy." He continued walking on, wondering where he was. "This doesn't look like Camelot to me..."

"It's not, dummy."

He looked around wildly. "Who said that?! Show yourself! Wait, you called me a dummy, didn't you?! Say that to my face, you coward!"

"Okay. You're a dummy, dummy."

He turned and came face to face with a pink haired girl dressed in white. He blinked a couple times. "Who are you?"

"I could ask the same thing of you. Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"You see, I am the handsome, sexy, manliest knight you will ever meet! My name, Sir Garfield Logan, the Beast, and I seek to join the Titans of the Round Table. But... I got lost."

Jinx rolled her eyes and pointed back to the marshes. "You came the wrong way. Through there, take a right. Camelot's that way."

"Oh." He squinted at her, looking at her suspiciously. "How do I know I can trust you. Are you not some sorceress, luring me into your trap?! I'll have your head for this!" He whipped out his sword, raised it, but then fell backward, the weight too much for him to hold.

"Uh... a little help here?"

"Nah, you can stay there. If I help you you'll just behead me."

"I was just joking!"

"Were not."

"Was too."

Jinx closed her eyes, putting a hand over her face. _Great. Now I sound like a child, arguing with another one. _She helped him up.

"Thanks," he murmured. "Hey, is that your house?" He pointed into the distance, at the colored spires of the Avalon castle, atop the black stone base.

"Sort of. Why?"

"Well, uh..." he blushed slightly. "You see, I'm kind of tired and it's getting late and I was wondering if you could let me stay for one night..."

Jinx looked at the raven on the tree nearby.

"Um..."

"Please?" He looked at her with puppy eyes.

"Ugh. Oh fine. You can stay. But no wandering around!"

"Awesome. Thanks, you're the best, uh- um... what's your name?"

"You can call me Lucky," Jinx replied. "Come on! Sun's setting already. Or do you want me to leave you out here in the dark?"

"What? Oh - wait up for me!"

The raven's eyes followed them for a while, then it took off and began flying again.


	2. Raven and Dragon

Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine

For some reason I forgot that the Titans had real names so I inserted them into the last chapter, with the exception of Raven and Jinx.

"Speech"

_Thoughts _

* * *

Garfield's eyes shifted around nervously as he entered the empty castle-cathedral like building. There was something about the place that seemed very off-putting. Maybe it was the fact that everything inside was black, despite its many towers being quite colorful outside, or maybe it was the strange shadows cast by the pale, colored moonlight streaming through the windows. Or maybe it was the fact that...

"There's nobody around!"

Jinx shrugged. "That a problem?"

"Yeah. The only people who live alone like this in the wild are like... hags. Or hermits. Or sorceresses."

"And do I look like any of those to you?"

"Yeah. You look like a hag - hey! Ow! Come on, I was just joking!"

Jinx was tempted to punch him in the face again, but refrained. "No dinner for you," she grumbled.

"Aww. Please? I'm sorry." He stared at her with puppy eyes.

The pinkette snickered. "You know, if you want to be a knight, you really gotta work on how you act. You know, like all manly and brave and stuff."

"Yeah, not my thing. So, dinner..?"

Jinx sighed. "You didn't really think I was serious, did you?"

They arrived at a door and Jinx opened it, revealing the dining room. "Mmm, smells good," she walked in, noticing that it was already fully set for two people. That was odd. Usually Raven would ask the servants to begin preparing dinner since she ate at very irregular times. And it was also odd that all the food was gathered at one end of the table - usually there was a bit set for her at one end, then more for Jinx would be set at the other. And it was also really strange that there was no meat today. Hmm...

But then again, Raven did say that they would be having a visitor sometime, so maybe she had also known when he would come and who he was. Her power of foresight was not her strongest, but it was sometimes quite clear.

"Sit," Jinx beckoned.

"Thanks," Garfield said as he came in, taking off his metal gloves. His eyes widened as he saw all the food, stomach rumbling eagerly. He turned to her. "You know, I find it hard to believe that you live here alone. Like, there's no way you would have all this food randomly set out for yourself, right?-"

"Of course not, silly. There are servants who do that for me."

"Servants? You're a noble?"

"Um, yeah. Couldn't you tell?"

He squinted at her, frowning. "No."

Jinx glared at him, pretending to be angry. "Well now you know. Eat, before it gets cold."

The green skinned man shrugged. He wasn't one to question food that was set out for him. They ate in silence for a while, until at last both of them were full and the servants came to clear the table, bringing a bottle of wine with them.

"That for us?"

Jinx nodded. "Thought a little drink wouldn't hurt."

She poured some wine into a glass for him, then some for herself and sipped at it. As she suspected, he didn't know how to drink properly and gulped it down quickly, as if it were ale and not wine, and a small smirk crossed her face. _This should get him to loosen up a bit. _She poured some more wine for him._  
_

"So," she said slowly. "Tell me for real. What are you doing here, Sir Garfield, the Beast? Surely you don't expect the Titans to accept you so easily without any proof that you are a true knight."

"Nonsense. Once they see how great I am, they'll be sure to accept me. I am - 'hiccup' - the very best warrior you shall ever - 'hiccup' - see in your life." He hiccuped again.

"But there has to be something," she pressed further. "You have to make a name for yourself before you can approach them. Ya know, do something great and all that."

He squinted at her. "And?"

She poured more wine for him. "You weren't just passing through here randomly, were you? Nobody just randomly goes into these marshes. Locals say they're cursed and stuff."

"Bah, they're just peasants. What do they know?"

"What is it that you seek? I know you're looking for something in this area."

Another glass of wine downed. He sighed, hiccuped, then looked at her. "Don'tcha go tellin' someone else 'bout my quest now, 'kay?" He spoke, words slurring together a little.

Jinx nodded. "I promise."

He smiled. "Legends say dat dere's a dragon somewhere 'n dis place. Ol' village woman says it's been eatin' lots of cows 'round here. If I can fin' the beast 'n kill it, Tit'ns will surely let me join 'em."

A slight pause. And the pinkette burst out laughing. "You? Kill a dragon?"

His eyes narrowed, vision blurring slightly. "Don'tcha underestimate me-"

Jinx held her stomach, trying to stop herself, but it wasn't until her insides began clenching up and her amusement turned to pain that she could finally stop. She wiped the tears from her eyes, face flushed. "Sorry, but that's not happening. _You, _kill a dragon?"

"Why... can't I?" He seemed to sway a little in his seat.

"Because, even if they are real, you've heard the stories about how strong they are. How they can even kill a hundred knights at once. Just one would barely tickle it, if it's real."

Garfield squinted again. "Dats not dat hard. I c'n take 'em."

"Oh please. It probably isn't even real. You're wasting your time looking for it."

"Gotta... try..." He fell out of his seat, darkness slowly overtaking his vision. "Mmmm too much... ta drink..."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "That drunk already?" She sighed.

The servants emerged a moment later, hearing the thud of him hitting the floor, she supposed, and looked at her. "Put him in that guest room on the first floor. And be ready to help him if he happens to wake up. I don't want him wandering around here randomly."

"Yes, mistress."

The servants dragged him out of the room and Jinx's gaze turned to the single window on the other side of the room. "Soup?"

A raven flew in. "Perhaps later," it morphed into a petite woman, dressed in black, a hood shadowing her face. Raven looked up.

"He was not lying about the dragon."

Jinx blinked. "Wait what? It's real? But I thought-"

"Not many still exist. But there are still some that lurk in mountains, rarely coming in contact with humans. This one seems to be an exception."

"The fool's gonna get himself killed," the pink haired girl muttered. "I wonder if he'll heed my warning."

"He won't have to," Raven said softly. "I mean to find this beast before he does."

"What? But why?"

A slight shrug. "Nothing better to do. For my own amusement, I suppose."

"But... eh. Whatever you say, my lady."

Raven said nothing and morphed back into a raven, flying back out through the window into the moonlit sky.

* * *

Garfield woke up in the middle of the night, feeling the onset of a massive headache brewing up in his mind. He got up, stumbling about in the dark, holding a hand to his head. _Where am I? _He tripped over something and crashed to the floor, only just then noticing that he was no longer wearing his armor. A moment later, the door opened and someone walked in. Whoever it was helped him to his feet and back to his bed.

"How are you feeling?" A low, female voice.

"Headache," he mumbled. "Let me go outside, the cold might help me clear my head."

He felt an arm around him, his own stretched over a pair of rather thin shoulders and they began walking. He was surprised at how much of his weight she could support - though he was not really a big man, he was probably a few inches taller than her and maybe, judging by her slight form, half her weight heavier than she was. Maybe more. And she was supporting at least two thirds of his weight.

The cold air hit him as the door opened, and he felt slightly more refreshed. _It's weird. Even if that castle thing seems really weird, the air here is really nice. I've never felt anything like it before. It feels like it's healing my headache, and not the cold numbing it. _

He opened his eyes. "Thanks -" there was nobody beside him. He scratched his head. _Where'd she go? _

A soft cry, not that of a human, but perhaps a bird. He frowned. For some reason, though, the sound of it reminded him of a human, even though its tone and pitch definitely could not be from a person. He looked around.

A raven, above him, staring down with glowing red eyes, emitting soft sounds from its beak, forming some sort of melancholic song. He stared at it for a few moments, enraptured, and then nearly jumped as two more flew down to join it, their own voices harmonizing with the original's. More, and more, gathering about, flying up into the air, a chorus of feminine bird sounds crying out, as if in muted sadness. Flying about in giant circles in the sky, their bodies shadowy, smooth in the moonlight, the ravens continued singing, spiraling above the trees around the castle-cathedral, eyes glowing with an unnerving, pure crimson light. Flying off further, deeper into the woods - he followed them, running after them, but not threateningly, following in a trance, eyes slightly glazed over.

The moonlight flitted through the trees, casting shadows about him, the shadows of bird figures from the ravens above, only something seemed off about the reflections cast upon the ground. No, no matter how he looked at it, he could not shake off the feeling that the ravens were not real... that they were just imaginary, or perhaps the by product of some sort of forgotten magic, or maybe even souls, taken the form of birds instead of human figures. Circling again, directly above him, singing as if to him, then leading him further toward a tall black tree, the moonlight pale against its dark bark, shining through its leafless branches. Odd.

He sensed that it was alive, yes, it had to be, for its branches were pliable in the wind, flowing smoothly and easily unlike those of a dead tree. Why did it look so odd, then?

The ravens circled about it and a moment later, he noticed another one, atop the peak of the tree, so slim and slight that it might have been an oddly shaped branch if not for the gleaming sanguine eyes. It seemed different than all the others, a little more solid, yet more human than the rest of the ravens circling about it, its piercing eyes staring into him as if they really were watching him, studying him... they were not the lit crimson eyes of the others, but sparkled with flecks of violet, a deeper shade of near black beneath their surface, as if the eyes were merely covers for deep pools of unbound darkness. No, not just darkness. Within the black beneath those eyes' surface, there were colors, spiraling about, but all muted by the void surrounding them, repressed, if that was any way to describe it.

The ravens gathered about the one near the top and all stared down at him, still singing, all save for the one with the odd eyes, the one that seemed like it was not a bird at all but a person. He watched and listened, spellbound, terrified but intrigued.

And then there was a voice behind him.

"What are you doing all the way out here alone? Garfield?" A hand on his shoulder.

He shook his head slowly, turning. "You?"

"Yes, me."

"How did you find me? I-"

"It's not hard when you leave foot prints through the forest. All I have to do is follow them. Come on, go back to sleep."

"But the ravens-"

He fancied that she turned a shade paler, but it was hard to tell in the already nearly white moonlight. Jinx looked up.

"What ravens?"

He blinked, looking back. Nothing. Just the black tree, no more. _Did I imagine all of it? _

"Come on," she pulled at his hand impatiently.

He got up and noticed that her eyes were glowing slightly in the darkness as well, with an eerie pink light not too unlike those of the ravens he remembered. But then again, she was just a girl, and a very slight, rather small one at that, garbed in only a thin white robe with no weapons on her. What did he have to be scared of?

They walked back quickly and every so often, he would look back into the distance, at the top of that black tree. Nothing. Empty. Sighing, he went back to his room and pulled the covers over his head, trying to forget everything and resting peacefully. Eventually, sleep overtook him and he faded into the oblivion of a dreamless repose, floating through pure void, without any thought at all.

When at last day broke and the reddish-orange sunlight of Avalon came through the window, he woke and sat up. His brows furrowed. A single black feather, atop his blankets.

* * *

"Thanks for letting me stay the night, Lucky."

"Just don't get lost around this place again," Jinx replied, waving to Garfield as he waded back through the marshes. "The marshes usually don't treat strangers well."

"I'll keep that in mind," he waved back.

Eventually, he passed through the cloud of mist, finding the way back from which he came, and emerged back in the normal human world, the yellow sunlight replacing that of the rather odd dimmed light from Avalon. He looked back at the cloud of mist, scratching his head. Well, at least he'd have a good story to tell once he got to Camelot. Though, probably nobody would believe him. _Like yeah, they'll think it's a joke, right? A pink haired noble lady living in the wild in a black church thingy, and weird ravens flying everywhere. I wonder if I just imagined the whole thing. __  
_

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black feather, twirling it between his fingers. _Nope, I didn't. _

Shrugging, he stuck the feather back into his pocket, and continued on toward the nearest village, wondering how he would find that dragon. _If I remember, Lucky said something about dragons living in mountains. And the only mountains nearby that I can think of are south, closer to Camelot. But that's pretty far from here. I wonder how fast dragons can fly... wouldn't it be kind of trouble some to come this far out into the country just to get a snack? _

Suddenly he noticed a pillar of smoke in the distance, eastward, from about where he remembered some Lord's castle was. He hurried into the nearby village, bought a horse from the stables - _wait, where did I get the money to do that? _He put his hand back into his pocket, the one with the black feather in it, and felt a bunch of gold coins. His eyes widened. _A magic feather! __Sweet! I knew this thing would be good luck. _

He mounted the horse and rode off toward the smoke, still fingering the feather in his pocket, wondering what else it could do.

* * *

It was already midday when he arrived at the burning castle, where there were many people scurrying about, tending to the wounded and putting out fires. He rode forward, past the gate, which had been completely destroyed, and dismounted at the stables. He noticed a wounded knight nearby and helped the man to his feet, half carrying him to a nearby bench and laying him down.

"What happened here?" His eyes scanned the man's body and wished he hadn't looked.

Most of his armor had been completely burnt through and one leg was bitten almost cleanly off, the bone showing through the torn muscles and tissue. It was a miracle that the man was not bleeding out as was very common when someone sustained severe injures, when the blood would spurt out from their bodies and could not be stopped. Bandaging the wound, knowing that it wouldn't do much, he looked around._  
_

"Dragon..." the man breathed out, coughing up some blood.

_As I thought. _"Shh, don't talk. I'll try to get someone to help you. You stay here. Err, well, doesn't really look like you can move by yourself. Um, yeah, I'll just go get someone to help you."

The man closed his eyes and said nothing else, breathing shallowly. He rushed up toward the keep of the castle and found a group of healers tending to some of the wounded near the keep doors, told one of them about the knight he had found, and then asked around about the dragon.

Most of them just looked up at him with traumatized eyes, but one of the healers, a rather youthful girl with fair hair, dressed in a white robe, approached him, looking at him with wearied eyes.

"Why do you want to know about that thing?"

"I want to kill it."

She turned away. "You'll just die trying."

"I won't."

She closed her eyes. "I'm not sending another knight to his death. Just don't even try."

Garfield puffed out his chest. "I am Sir Garfield, the Beast. Do not fear, young wench, I shall save this country from this scourge that plagues it."

She turned back, glaring at him. "Who are you calling wench, dunce? I am the Lord Markov's daughter! These are _my _people to protect!"

"Oh." He looked at her more closely, taking in her strong, determined eyes, if a little dark from seeing all the death wrought by the dragon, her sparkling fair hair, her slim figure... he realized as she approached him that she was fairly tall, taller than that Lucky girl he had met, the top of her head coming up to maybe half way up his face.

She put a finger on his chest and pushed back. He continued staring. She sighed. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. You do not need to fear for my life-"

She rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. "Fine. The dragon flies north every time it leaves. I'm guessing its lair is somewhere in the hills. If you're that hellbent on committing suicide, then go, be my guest-"

"I shall drive that best out of this country, in the name of my benefactor, the fair Lady... um... what's your name?"

She put a hand over her face. "No need to be so pompous either. My name is Terra Markov. Just Terra is fine, since you're helping me, Sir Garfield."

"Don't worry," he smiled at her, looking her in the eye seriously. "It'll all be better soon. I'll get rid of it."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"I will!"

"Whatever."

* * *

"Damn," Garfield cursed quietly to himself. "Why do all of the pretty girls seem to think that I'm an idiot? I mean, how could they turn down the affections of the handsome, strong, intelligent Sir Garfield? Oh well. Once I become a Titan, they'll be lining up to kiss me then."

He looked back at the Markov Castle, wondering how Terra would feel about him if he actually did beat the dragon. _Heh, I know, I'm a sucker for pretty faces. I should've tried to impress that Lucky girl, she seemed fun. Well, Terra seems cool too. Maybe she'll actually be impressed with me and actually let me talk to her._

He looked forward again. Nearing the hills - they were tall hills, but not really mountains, which he had expected dragons to live in. But, it didn't make too much of a difference he supposed. He tied his horse to a tree and began climbing.

After a while, he noticed an opening in the nearby slope and moved toward it, curving around a corner.

_Whoa. _

Now that he had gotten past the rocks obstructing his view, it rather surprised him how large the opening was. The dragon must've been enormous, its wingspan maybe even a hundred feet wide or more, judging by the size of its lair.

"Hmm." He frowned a little.

Not at all like those pictures in all the books, where a knight could easily reach up with his sword and slice off the dragon's head with a single clean stroke. Those were clearly a gross exaggeration. _I wonder if I'm pushing my luck here... _then he shrugged. Sir Garfield held no fear.

He marched into the darkness, brandishing his sword in front of him.

"Show yourself, foul beast! Show your face so that I can kill you!"

A pair of gleaming, blood-red eyes opened. "Foolish knight. You would fight a dragon one on one, when I have already defeated hundreds of you at a time?"

"Hah! I am no ordinary knight! Behold, your bane, Sir Garfield, the Beast! I have the strength of a hundred men and the courage of a thousand! You are no match for me!"

"We shall see."

The dragon lurched forward and suddenly he was thrown back, all the way to the entrance of its lair. The dragon flew into the light streaming in. Its massive, dark wings surrounded him, triangular head snapping forward, trying to bite him in half. Garfield dodged aside and his sword swung down, only to ring as it clashed with the tough, black coat of armor-like scales protecting the dragon's body. He gritted his teeth, dodged a stream of fire coming toward him and slashed forward again, slicing at the dragon's softer, purple underside.

It drew back, growled, and lashed out with its tail, knocking him back again. Garfield slammed heavily into one wall and slowly collapsed downward, feeling his bruised ribs cry out in pain. The dragon's eyes narrowed and it came forward, fire blasting toward him. He rolled, careful to let his arm take the brunt of the force, and ran toward it, dodging the fire, sword aimed for the dragon's belly, where it would be vulnerable.

It sensed his intent, flew back, and continued blasting fire at Garfield until it finally caught him, scorching the flesh of his left leg with the sheer heat, despite the fire itself not penetrating the armor. Gritting his teeth, the green knight limped around, dodging bite, blow, and fire, trying to find an opening to attack. But it was futile. The dragon was too fast, too resilient. Even when his sword had struck its underbelly, it had barely left a scratch, not even causing the dragon to bleed at all. And now he did not even have the agility to reach the dragon's vulnerable spot any longer.

Another vicious swipe with its claws, and Garfield's sword was sent flying into the darkness. He darted back, frightened, and drew a dagger, which also was knocked away, and then tried to block with the wooden shield that he carried on his back, which merely shattered with a single blow.

"Anything else?"

Garfield looked around wildly. "Uh... give me a moment."

He stuck his hand into his pocket, pulled out the black feather, and pointed it at the dragon. "Ha! Die, you foul beast!"

The dragon was stunned for a moment, then it began laughing, snorting fire out as it howled. Garfield snickered, approached it, and tickled its belly with the feather, causing it to laugh even harder, spewing out fire in great gasps.

_Great. Time to run. _Garfield slipped the feather back into his pocket and tiptoed away, hoping the dragon was too consumed in laughter to notice him leaving. He approached the hillside entrance, stepped into the light, and-

A claw slammed down in front of him.

"You are amusing, for a human," the dragon's eyes narrowed at him, a strange grin on its face. "Perhaps I shall keep you as entertainment."

"Um, no thanks."

"Fine. Then I shall have you for dinner."

"Um, no thanks either."

"It is not your decision to make. Now, perish, fool!" The dragon's jaws snapped forward, but then it suddenly stopped, its head encased in black energy. "What sorcery-" Its eyes widened.

A lady, a lithe, pale lady, tiny even for a woman, dressed in all black, her hood covering her face. The darkness flowed around her, a natural extension of her body, covering everything save for her glimmering violet eyes and the bottom half of her face, where her thin lips were pursed into a slight grimace. She was not standing on the ground - instead, like some dark specter, she hovered a foot off the ground, lower body melding in with the darkness, barely visible. _Danger. _The thought crossed both of their minds at the same time. She was dangerous. Even if she did not radiate immense power, they could both tell that she was much, much stronger than either of them. Tension filled the air, an immense weight pressing downward, both of their bodies collapsing to the ground, and then she turned, looking down at Garfield. Their eyes made contact... there was something vaguely familiar about her eyes, no, not just vaguely familiar. Something very familiar, something he should've known, but for some reason could not remember at the moment.

"Yo. What's up?" There was a voice behind the green skinned man, and he turned.

"Lucky?" His eyes widened.

She grinned. "The one and only. Though, I might've lied to you. My real name's Jinx."

"Wait, what? What're you doing here?"

"Watching you get your ass kicked, apparently. Told ya."

"That doesn't answer the question - hey! I was not getting my ass kicked."

"Were too."

"Was not."

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Anyway, mistress is here now, so might wanna get out of here."

"Love to, but," he pointed at his leg. "Got burned."

"Oh. Well, stay put. And don't say or do anything stupid."

"Don't need to tell me again."

Their eyes shifted to Raven, who was still facing the dragon, eyes glowing. Neither of them had said a word, seemingly locked in a staring contest, almost as if it were a battle of wills. The dragon's eyes suddenly narrowed and it rose up, breaking the black energy surrounding its head. It spewed out a massive wave of fire at her, engulfing everything, burning white hot, lighting up the entire cave with its intensity.

"Lady!"

"Relax, dimwit. She's not an idiot like you."

"I'm not an idiot!"

"Just watch."

The flames faded, revealing a bubble of black energy surrounding Raven, which faded after a moment. She brought her arms up and energy lanced out again, restraining the dragon's entire body, preventing any movement. It tried moving, but found itself completely immobilized, unable to do a thing. Raven approached it.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," she whispered in a low monotone.

The sheer emptiness in her voice struck Garfield, as if she were completely emotionless, or perhaps restraining her emotions, to the point that there was not even a hint of irritation. No, if anything, she sounded a little... sad?

"What do you want?" The dragon's voice came out muffled.

"You are an annoyance to these people, Malchior," her voice was quiet, but hard. "You slaughter their cattle, burn their crops, and now you are taking their lives. You must leave."

His eyes narrowed. "How do you know my name?"

"I can see all that goes on within your mind. You cannot hide from me." She closed her eyes, her voice growing even quieter, a hint of empathy coming through. "Do not worry. I understand. You... require sustenance to live, just like any other creature. But the humans have cleared the land and claimed all of its creatures for themselves, leaving nothing for you. When you came out to feed, they looked at you like a monster, nothing more, and tried to fight you off. It is either fight them or starve."

"So you would have me starve, then."

Her eyes opened again, and there was a softer look to them. "No, I would not have you starve. To them, you are just a monster. But perhaps you are merely just trying to survive, hmm? Part of it, however, is a little act of vengeance on your part."

"Insufferable humans. Why should I care about their petty lives when they would deny me mine? We dragons have lived for ages in peace, by ourselves. You do not see these forests burnt to the ground by our hunting, nor the land's animals depopulated by our feeding. No, we lived in balance with everything, like any other creature, until the humans came and claimed all for themselves. If they take everything and leave nothing, then what is there left for us?"

"I can give you a new home, provided that you trust me."

The dragon's eyes narrowed. "And if I don't? You are human too, sorceress."

Her eyes glimmered faintly red, and the dragon drew back, surprised. "It is not a matter of whether I am a human, Malchior. Come, you can be my pet. I shall treat you well."

Malchior stared at the dark lady, slightly intimidated by the red gleam in her eyes. He was silent for a few moments, contemplating his options.

"Very well, as you say... what shall I call you?"

"I am Raven. Of Avalon."

"Mistress Raven, then. I shall follow you."

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. She pulled out a book and wrote a few inscriptions on it. "It will be easier if we do these things this way. I shall bind your soul to this book. Think of it as your new host body. When we get back to Avalon, I can then recreate your old body and you can inhabit it at your own leisure."

Malchior frowned. "You are chaining me? That was not part of the-"

"No. You shall still be free to roam, but this shall make it easier to feed you. There is not much wildlife left on Avalon, but if your soul is bound to the book, I can provide you sustenance with my magic. You will no longer require food in the normal sense."

"Fine," the dark energy disappeared from around the dragon and he bent his head meekly.

Raven muttered a few incantations, then bright light appeared from the book, dissolving the dragon's body and implanting its soul within. And then it disappeared in a flash of darkness, stowed away for safekeeping. Raven turned.

Jinx smiled at her and patted Garfield on the head. "Looks like your lucky day, Sir Knight. You're getting a free trip back to town too!"

Garfield stared at Raven, wide eyed, for a few minutes, before looking back at Jinx. "Sorceresses?"

"Yep. What else would we be?"

He rubbed his eyes. "I don't believe it."

"Why not?"

"Because sorceresses are supposed to be old. And ugly. And evil-"

"Well, we're not so get over it."

"About that ugly part-"

Jinx slapped him. "You're pushing your luck. You know, we could just leave you here and with that burnt leg of yours, I doubt you'd get very far."

Garfield grinned cheekily. "Sorry, sorry. Mind helping me gather my things?"

"Already done," he found Raven looking at him, speaking in that unique, low voice of hers. "Do yourself a favor and refrain from telling anyone about us, Sir Garfield."

"Um... well..."

"You know that we are not evil. We have just done you and this country a service."

"I mean, I know that, but I mean, what do I say happened to the dragon?"

"You defeated it, obviously, dummmie," Jinx frowned. "Oh, that's right. You'll need some proof. Hmm, let's see..."

"But that would be lying! I mean, you guys did all the work, you should get the credit."

Both of them stared at him. _He's an honest one. _Jinx blushed faintly. _I wonder how long it's been since someone's treated me like a normal person, even knowing that I'm a sorceress. The fact that we're supposed to be evil isn't fazing him at all. _

"Fine," Raven said. "You had some help. But ultimately you were the one who led us here, so take some credit where it is due."

Garfield sighed. "Okay, okay, whatever. I'll just try to keep quiet about this whole thing. And yeah, I'll try not to tell anyone about you guys. Can't make any promises though- ugh. You know that Camelot hunts sorceresses, right?"

"Duh. Everyone hunts sorceresses. But they're not really a threat to us."

Garfield shrugged. "Okay. I just don't like lying, that's all." Awkward silence.

"So... about that trip back to town."

Raven blinked. "First, you have something of mine that I want back."

Garfield looked at her, confused, and then realized what she meant. "Oh, so it was you helping me? I was wondering..." He pulled out the black feather and then looked at her carefully. "Were you that raven..."

She took the feather back and it disappeared into her robes. "Some things," she said quietly, "are better left unanswered. Now, shall I take you back to the Markov Castle?"

He looked at her carefully for a moment, trying to discern her features from under her hood, but to no avail. And then gave up. "Yes, please."


	3. Raven and Moonlit Night

Disclaimer: Teen Titans not mine

Kindly remember that this fic is rated M (and is really rated Ma to be exact) for a reason. _**Do not read if you are under 18, or are uncomfortable with explicit sexual scenes. **_(A reminder, since this chapter has a... well, basically an incomplete lemon).

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

* * *

Raven gazed up from atop a hill, staring at the moonlight shining down on Avalon. She looked at the book between her hands, fingers running over the designs on its cover, then opened it.

"I had not imagined this place would be so large. From the outside, it always appeared like it would be very small, barely inhabitable."

Malchior appeared in front of her vaguely in the image of a man with flowing white hair, dressed in light armor and beneath that, wizard's robes. He sat beside her, looking up as well.

"There are many memories floating about this place. Many of them not yours."

"I feel them all," Raven replied tonelessly. "They might as well be mine."

Malchior felt the air grow denser, colder, as if there were spirits nearby. Perhaps there were. "You have seen much, have you not?"

"Too much," another monotone reply. "Come, look at your body."

She led him inside, a ball of light in her hand. It cast dimly upon a massive, seemingly sleeping figure, much like his old form, only slightly smaller. He moved up and touched it, soul melding into it easily. The red eyes opened.

"Perfect. How did you manage to do this?"

"I know many things, Malchior. Here, come out. I'll feed you."

His soul exited the body and reentered the book, melding into one of the illustrations. Raven mumbled a few words and suddenly food appeared in front of him, a sumptuous meal of assorted meats. He looked up at her curiously.

"So this is how you intend to do it. It is all very well, but you do know that in human form, I eat more than meat, correct?"

Raven blinked. Some cooked vegetables and fruit appeared as well. "Enjoy your meal. I shall leave this book in your lair. Speak the incantation on this page and you can eat whenever you like and have whatever food you may desire. I would advise that you not fly too far out of Avalon, though, or people will begin looking for you."

"This place is large enough," he replied. "There will be plenty of space to fly."

Raven nodded and turned, transforming into her bird form, flying off into the moonlight. Malchior watched her go, munching on his food from within the pages of the white book.

* * *

"You've returned," Terra greeted the weary knight in one of the healers' rooms, where the wounded were taken to rest.

This one was a private one, for a single person, usually saved for royalty if they happened to be hurt or anything, but at Terra's insistence, Garfield was placed in it so she could speak to him alone.

"I didn't think you'd make it back."

He looked at her tiredly, but still managed to smile. "I told you. Strength of a hundred men."

"So you actually beat it? Wow." She seemed mildly impressed with him. Strike that, quite impressed. "I thought you were an idiot."

He shrugged. "Nah, I had some help bringing it down. And I'm not an idiot!"

"Help?"

"Yeah, some old buddies of mine. They hauled its carcass off but left me with one of its teeth," he gestured to his armor, which was hanging on a nearby rack, and she reached into a pocket, pulling out an extremely long, sharp tooth.

"Your new sword," she laughed, and he chuckled with her.

"Don't hurt yourself."

"I won't. I know how to use a sword too. I can fight on par with any of father's best knights."

"Really?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. He says that all Markovs, women or men, must learn to be able to hold their own in battle. Whatever that's supposed to mean, but I don't mind learning how to fight. It'll help me beat down morons that I don't like."

"Hopefully that doesn't include me," the green skinned knight held up his hands in mock fear.

She poked at him playfully. "Nah, you're alright. Hey..." her voice suddenly dropped in volume.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just... thanks. For everything. That dragon was giving us so much trouble and I was worried that more people would die and-"

"Don't worry about it," he yawned, as if it wasn't a big deal. "Just part of a knight's duty. Help where you can."

Terra blushed faintly. "Not everyone's that brave. Or kind, to risk their own life to save someone else's."

"Anything for you, princess."

Terra put her hands on her hips. "Now you're just trying to sweet talk me."

"Nonsense-"

"Pah, just drink your medicine and go to sleep."

She brought a cup of liquid to his mouth and tipped it, watched as Garfield dozed off, then left the room, smiling, once she was sure he could not see her. For an idiot, he was surprisingly courageous and kind.

* * *

Raven looked outside at the shining moon, occasionally looking back in and stirring the pots of boiling dye-water and cloth with her energy. Jinx had decided to go to town again - the girl was more social than she was, she knew that - so of course Raven obliged when she had asked her to dye some more cloth. She glanced over at the pinkette, who was laying down on a nearby bench, evidently just fallen asleep. Not quite a night owl, Jinx was still used to sleeping at night, though that had slowly begun to change over the years. Something strange to do with the atmosphere in Avalon, she supposed, for everyone who had lived there eventually became almost wholly nocturnal, preferring the soft moonlight to the rather grating sun.

She got up and glided over, hovering over the girl, watching her breathe slowly. Raven put a cold hand on her cheek, feeling her warmth, and then conjured up a pillow and blanket, lifting Jinx's head gently and placing the pillow under her, then covering her with the blanket.

The pink haired girl stirred slightly. Raven put hand on her forehead and soothed away the disturbance, sending her back off to peaceful sleep. She stared at Jinx's placid face a while longer before gliding back to the window, staring at the moon.

* * *

As usual, she sold out quickly, and began looking for things to buy, wondering if there was anything suitable to give Raven, or maybe even Malchior. _Hell, what do dragons even like? Raw meat, I guess, but that seems sort of weird to give as a gift. Maybe I'll get Raven a warmer cloak. Winter's almost here. _But then again, Raven seemed to be immune to heat, cold, any sort of temperature fluctuation or weather in general. So that would be a moot point. _Maybe I'll buy her another book. _Sometimes peasants kept books around, even though they couldn't read them, just as trinkets or to stare at the illustrations, but they certainly would be willing to sell them if they could, since they had no use for them after all.

Jinx bought a couple and some food as she normally did, still perusing the market when she noticed something odd. A lady in a fine white dress, accompanied by a knight in blue armor. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the lady's long, auburn hair and her sparkling green eyes, and that she was very tall, nearly as tall as the knight who walked by her side, and that man was absolutely massive. _  
_

"You're the princess of Tamaran, right?" Jinx said suddenly, approaching her.

The lady turned. "Why yes. I am surprised that you recognized me. I did not think that the Camelot folk recognized nobles from other countries."

Jinx smiled. "Nice to meet you. My name is Lucky. I'm noble born myself, that's why I recognized you. I was invited to one of your father's parties."

"Ah yes, that makes sense. My K'norfka does enjoy hosting feasts for nobles of other countries. It helps us establish good relations and besides, who does not enjoy good food? I regret that I have not met you before, however," she curtsied slightly. "Princess Koriand'r, or just Kori, daughter of the Lord Galfore of Tamaran. Your king so kindly sent a knight here to escort me to Camelot. Sir Victor, the Cyborg, so they say."

"Cyborg?" Jinx raised an eyebrow.

"I'm good at making things," the knight replied, taking off his helmet. "I am one of the king's most skilled smiths and inventors."

"Oh. I've heard of you. You're that guy who made that strange wagon that runs by itself."

"Pleased to meet you."

Jinx smiled. "Thanks. So what brings the princess of Tamaran here?"

Kori's smiling face suddenly turned solemn and she leaned in. "My country is at war with these strange creatures that we have never seen before. We are not sure if they are entirely human, or something else, but they are quite powerful. I was hoping that your king would be kind enough to aid us in our battle, as our countries trade frequently."

"Oh. I hope it goes well. King Bruce Wayne, the Bat, as they call him, is supposed to be pretty grumpy when you first meet him, but he's actually a pretty nice guy, or so they say."

"Ah yes, I have heard that too. I have also heard that he does not sleep at night, like a normal person."

"Neither does his wife, apparently. An odd couple, Queen Selena and King Bruce."

"Indeed, they are," Victor looked at Jinx a little quizzically. Something about her was a little odd, besides the pink hair and cat-like eyes. Something a little dangerous, though she acted perfectly normally and was garbed in the clothing of a noble woman. She certainly spoke as if she was learned, without that strange peasant accent that most people had. But still, there was something off about her.

"Princess," he said suddenly. "We should continue riding. The stablemaster must have produced fresh steeds for us by now. Hopefully we may reach the Lord Markov's castle by sundown."

She turned. "Ah yes. Well, I shall take my leave, Lady Lucky. It was nice to meet you. Hmm," she thought carefully for a moment, and then her eyes sparkled. Rummaging in one of her packs nearby, she brought out two small bags of what appeared to be colored powder. "Here, these are samples of the Tamaranian food, jello. Boil these in water and allow them to cool, and you shall have a nice dessert to enjoy. Ah-" she felt Victor's hand pull her away. "Fare thee well, friend Lucky!"

"Have a safe trip," Jinx replied as Kori disappeared with Victor.

She stared at the two bags of powder, wondering what they could be. Shrugging, she put them in a basket and continued shopping.

* * *

*prod *prod. Raven stared at it with dark eyes, seeing her own distorted reflection stare back at her, rippling as the cube of red, translucent stuff jiggled. She looked up at Jinx.

"What is this infernal contraption?" Raven poked it again with her finger, watching as the thing jiggle. "Perhaps it would make for comfortable bedding," she muttered. "But there is not enough of it. And it is not quite dense enough."

Jinx stared at her own cube of red, blinking. "I met the princess of Tamaran today. She gave me these - apparently, they're examples of Tamaranian food."

Raven sat back, looking at Jinx. "I have been to Tamaran before, when I was younger. If I recall, their food looks strange but tastes fairly good. I do not remember this... stuff... however."

"Maybe it's new. I wonder how you eat it."

The dark sorceress poked it again, watching it jiggle on the plate. She raised a fork and stabbed into it, watching the silverware penetrate into the stuff easily. Too easily. She thought better of it and picked up a spoon, cleaving off a piece of jello, and put it in her mouth.

Raven blinked. "This is pretty good."

"Really? What's it taste like?"

"Strawberries. It's sort of gooey but not sticky and it's pretty sweet. It's... interesting."

"Cool." Jinx took a bite of it and a smile crossed her face. "Still much more fun to play with though."

She poked at it and the blob of red jello jiggled. Raven rolled her eyes, but poked at her own jello as well, for some reason her attention held by the childish act. And then she caught Jinx looking and blushed faintly.

"Just eat," she muttered. "It is food, not a toy."

"Sure, sure."

* * *

"Are you coming to Camelot with me?"

"Hmm," Terra looked outside, where it was snowing lightly. "Father did always say that I should make some connections with the court. But it's winter now. Travel's always hard."

"It's only early December. It'll get worse if you decide to wait."

"Hmm. Well, snow does come late to this country, even if we are so far north. In other places, you'd usually get snow in November, right?"

"Oh come on, Terra. You know you want to go with me."

She rolled her eyes. "You're not a nobleman. Father wouldn't approve."

"You like me."

"Do not."

"Yes you do," he smirked at her.

Terra sighed. "Like I said, father wouldn't approve unless you were some super famous knight. Besides, I don't really know you that well."

"I'm the coolest guy you've met."

"There are plenty of 'cool' people out there."

"We don't have to go as anything but friends. We don't have to _be _anything but friends."

"Well duh. Like I said, I don't know you _that _well."

"But we can still be friends, right?"

"Yeah, of course. You're fun to hang around." Terra paused for a moment. "Alright fine. I'll go with you. I guess father won't mind as long as you don't like make advances on me or something."

"I wouldn't do something like that. I'm not that kind of man."

"I can tell. So, when are you leaving?"

"Hmm. Maybe in a couple days. I've already been here a week longer than I had thought I would be."

"For me?"

"Hey, I'm a sucker for the attention of pretty girls."

Terra laughed. "I wonder what father will think though. I've never left home before."

"It'll be alright. Don't be scared."

"I'm not!"

"It's only natural for a girl to be scared the first time she leaves home-"

"You big brute," she pushed him playfully. "I'm probably stronger than you."

"Yeah, right. You're pretty strong though... for a woman."

"And what's wrong with women?"

"Oh, nothing nothing." Garfield remembered the two sorceresses that had come to take away that dragon. He didn't have a good gauge on how strong either of them was, but both of them, including Lucky - Jinx, whatever her name was, were probably way stronger than he was. "Yeah, women can be pretty strong."

"Good that you realize that. Now, want to get something to eat?"

"Sure."

* * *

It was maybe a couple days journey to Camelot, delayed a little by the snow drifting through the skies, and incidentally they arrived just as Kori and Victor did as well, approaching the great castle, which lay atop a large hill, its back carved into a cliffside. They both traveled through the great gate at the same time, giving each other a passing glance, then recognizing each others as knights and nobles, greeted each other.

"'Sup."

Victor raised an eyebrow. "What kind of knight are ye, that greets me with such a strange saying?"

"What? It's just another way to say hello."

"... you're weird."

"Oh yeah? What about you? What kind of knight wears blue armor?"

"What kind of knight has _green skin? _Are you diseased?"

"No! I'm just a bit-"

"Weird. Next thing you'll tell me is that you eat weird stuff."

"I don't eat meat."

Victor's eyes bugged out. "What the- how can this be possible? No wonder you are so scrawny, like some wheat stalk in the field-"

"Hey!"

"Well, it's true," Terra laughed. "And I can confirm. Little bugger doesn't eat meat."

"Lady Markov," Victor knelt before her, a sorrowful expression on his face. "I am so sorry that you had such an incompetent fool accompanying you to our great kingdom of Camelot. I shall be sure to provide you a more... suitable... escort in the future." A small smirk crossed his lips, not going unnoticed by Garfield.

"Hey! Pranks are _my _thing."

"I was being very serious," Victor said, struggling to keep from laughing. The small knight, despite his rather strange personality, was rather funny, if only it was because he acted so strangely.

"Hmm. Perhaps if he does not eat meat, he will enjoy the Tamaranian food I have brought as a gift. Here, you may partake in a sample of this." Kori beamed at him and took out a package from her horse's pack, along with a plate.

*plop

"What ... is that?"

"Tofu!" She poked at it.

It jiggled.

"Um... Is it safe to eat?" Terra poked it too.

"Of course it is! It is one of the most common foods in my country! Please, go right ahead, try some. It is very delicious."

"No meat, right?"

Kori nodded.

"Sweet! Let me try it. You guys want some?"

Terra and Victor shook their heads firmly.

"Oh well, suit yourselves." He took a bite. His eyes widened.

So did Terra's and Victor's. "What? What's wrong? Was it poisonous? I warned you!"

"No, it's delicious!" Garfield ate the rest of it and beamed at Kori. "When can I come to Tamaran?"

"Perhaps you could come with me when I go back. Then I can show you all our wonderful Tamaranian food!"

"Um, nah, Gar will stay here with us. He's not much of a traveler," Terra said suddenly.

"But-"

Terra glared at him. He frowned, looked away for a moment, then understood, blushing faintly. "Yeah. Not much of a traveler."

"Oh. That is too bad then. But I shall remain here for a while, and I can have father send me all the Tamaranian delicacies you could ever want."

"Awesome. You're the best."

Victor coughed. "Looks like we're all having fun out here, but I'd like to remind you that it's snowing, pretty hard, you know," he gestured to the three of them, who already had piles of snow on them.

"Cool! I'm a snowman!"

Terra rolled her eyes. "Sir Blue Knight-"

"Sir Victor."

"Whatever."

"Whatever?! I am a brave Titan of the Round Table! I am not merely some punk like this kid-"

"You're a Titan?" Garfield looked at him with shining eyes. "Wow. That's so cool. Dude..." he ran over and looked at the large man's sword, pulling out, swinging it around, then sheathed it and poked at the blue armor, then took the helmet from his hand and-

"Quit it! Now, let's get to the castle before we freeze to death."

"Ugh, okay. Fine. But dude you have to tell me all about the Titans-"

"Later. When we get to the castle."

They led their horses up the city road, sloping upward to the keep, where a yellow banner with a black bat on it waved in the wind.

* * *

Jinx yawned, stretching her arms out as she woke up, then blinked, wondering why it was so dark. She got up, slipped into a white robe and opened her window, allowing the pale light from the crescent moon to stream in. _Odd. It's so early, but the moon is up already. _She frowned, leaving her room and stepping outside before it occurred to her what day it was. _Right. It's the solstice. Longest night of the year. Time flows differently here. Still haven't quite gotten used to it yet. _She wandered through the snow, gazing at the sparkling landscape around her, all so very pale, so very ethereal, misted over as white flakes of frosted water drifted down from the sky, lending everything an surreal quality, as if it were merely a dream.

There was something mystical about Avalon in winter, more so than any other season. Maybe it was the abnormally long nights, or indeed, the abnormally long winter, that often extended from November till March, or even April, though often it wasn't cold enough for snow. But once the nights started getting very long, which they already were in Avalon, that apparently was when winter had come. On the solstice, she recalled Raven saying, there was not even a single moment of daylight - the moon would stay in the sky, its ivory glow replacing that of the reddish sun.

Around December, it always began to get very cold, but a few years of dealing with it and she had gotten used to that. In just a thing white robe, even with the snow falling about her, prickling her feet, she felt pleasantly cool, something about the cold air very refreshing to her. She sat, looking up at the sky, feeling the slight chill of each flake tickling her face, melting, and running down as water.

Most people probably would've felt that it was too cold, but she was a sorceress and so was Raven. There was something about their bodies that was different. They were not necessarily more physically adept than an average person, though they were in truth, just because of the amount of physical labor that they did, but for some reason they had unnatural resilience against damage and temperature. Yes, an ordinary person probably would have gotten frostbite by now, or maybe even died to the cold, but she was a sorceress and such beings were known for their attraction to extremes. Well, mostly because it really didn't feel that cold to her.

Occasionally the moon would sparkle with violet light, probably Raven's doing, a sign of her powers at work in Avalon's domain, and each flake of snow falling from the sky would sparkle violet in turn, lighting the air with millions of tiny, glimmering frozen amethysts, each a different shade, reflecting lavender, lilac, mauve, iris, shifting as they melded with the snow on the ground. In the trees, within the darkness where moonlight only penetrated through in soft rays of violet, shadows swarmed around as if they were creatures come alive. No, they truly did seem to be alive, various figures of beings thought only to be myths. A dim outline of a dragon, flying past a cascade of the moon's radiance, then a phoenix, a chimera, a massive serpent, then bursting apart into dozens of birds, each with glowing crimson eyes, _a flock of ravens... _

She knew what it meant.

Dancing about, the ravens fluttered through alternating darkness and violet, their feathers sleek and lustrous, but not altogether real from what she could sense. No, as real as they looked, there was something about them that seemed like they were from a different plane of existence. She remembered seeing them a lot, though even she was not sure what they were. No, probably only Raven knew. Perhaps projections of her emotions, bottled away inside her, hidden beneath the cold of Avalon's winter, or maybe souls of sorceresses past... who knew how many friends Raven had lost over the years? Or maybe something else altogether.

Certainly they were not ordinary birds. The intelligence with which they looked at her, even past the glazed sanguine of their eyes, mixed melancholy, rage, despair, and then past then further, there was a sense of continuity with them, as if they were not just a flock, but inseparably connected, almost a sense of friendship between them, if it could be described in any such way.

A soft song, one she had heard many times echoed through the violet flakes veiling them from her, beckoning for her to follow. When she had first seem them and heard their song, she had been entranced by the beauty of it all, and not a little overwhelmed by the depth, the humanity of how the ravens acted, not as animals, but as humans who had seen too much of the world. But now, it seemed a different. A darker undertone to the song, almost like a cry for help, one that always remained unanswered...

_Besides by me. _She followed the soft coos through the forest, a melancholic expression overtaking her face as she heard some of the coos turn to soft wails, silent weeping.

* * *

She was there, the violet haired goddess, perched on one of the tree branches, _stark naked... _Jinx blushed and approached as the ravens gathered about her, all looking down, crimson eyes soft, as soft as Raven's eyes looked beneath her half lidded gaze. They stared at each other for a long while, snow and violet light cascading about them, studying each other's faces.

Yes, they would do that a lot, for whatever the reason. Maybe they found each other attractive, or maybe there was something in their looks that could not be communicated through words. Within those violet eyes, those deep, endless pools of dark mauve, a sheer blackness spread out, void and cold, but with sparkles of light illuminating the oblivion behind the surface of violet, occasionally bursting in a myriad of varied color before dying away again. And not once did her stony expression change.

At least, to most people, she would not have looked any different. Her smooth, youthful face remained impassive, as it always did, dark brows slightly furrowed, lending her eyes an more intense quality, irises gleaming through her lashes. Her lips, slightly curved down, might have been interpreted as a sign of displeasure, perpetual irritation, but maybe one of permanent sadness as well, the dreary years alone in Avalon carving its mark upon her face. And to most people, if they even dared to look that closely, that was it.

But they had spent so long staring at each other that Jinx knew better than to read Raven just like that. No, her young, pretty face was marked with faint lines, a sign of the ever present tension that the girl felt, and the dark circles around her eyes that seemed to breathe as she did gave away the weariness that plagued her, constant enervation. But sometimes the lines relaxed, and then she knew that Raven was resting more peacefully.

A smile crossed her lips. Raven raised an eyebrow. Jinx smiled a lot, for a sorceress at least. She knew that the girl understood many things, what being shunned was like, the abnormality of their situation and powers, being completely and utterly alone... No, actually she did not truly understand that. _And I hope she doesn't have to. The girl should not have to suffer the long years of solitude, not as I did. _She turned, looking at the ravens about her. _As we all did. _And then toward the pinkette below her. In Jinx's face, there was still youth and vitality, true youth, she could tell, just by the pure lightheartedness with which she acted, despite her understanding of the heavy burden of a sorceress's lone life. It wasn't a comical type of lightheartedness, no, it was more of a... _a willingness to be happy about everything in life. A willingness to ignore the darker aspects of her life. Certainly, if you ignore those, you may stay sane. But... _Raven looked at her more closely and saw the slight glaze in Jinx's eyes and the downward tilt of her brow, a sign of life weighing down upon her. She frowned with distaste. She had not wanted Jinx to be unhappy, like her.

Raven floated down, the flock of ravens about her scattering, approaching the other girl silently. As always, Jinx was surprised. Standing face to face, she was reminded that despite all of Raven's glory, her immensely powerful, mystical aura, she was still a very small woman. Then again, that didn't really mean much. Physical size did not have much to do with power, except in a more brutish sense.

Both of Raven's eyebrows raised expectantly. "Well? Usually you make the first move."

"W-what?" Red spread across Jinx's face. "I-I didn't come here just for that-"

"It was in the back of your mind, was it not?" And then Raven's voice softened drastically. "We do this fairly often."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that. You're usually so distant, even to me. I was wondering why you did such things with me, Lady Raven."

"Just Raven will do," the violet haired girl replied quietly, eyes closing.

And then they opened as she felt a hand on her chest. A light blush formed across her face as Jinx pushed her down, biting at her neck, pinching lightly. And then her hands began roaming everywhere, barely touching the smooth skin, fingers running along Raven's arm, down the ridges of her ribs, across her stomach, then down her sides - Raven flinched a little, squirming around. Jinx's eyes lit up in delight. She remembered the first time that she had done this with Raven, she was surprised to learn that the dark sorceress was actually ticklish, and _very _sensitive, much more so than the quiet sounds she gave off might suggest, though any sort of sound out of Raven was already nothing short of a miracle.

But when she thought about it, she wasn't really that surprised because after all, Raven had very little physical contact. Maybe that was why she liked what they did, because it allowed her to feel so strongly.

Raven hissed. "Get on with it. You're usually not _this _slow." Her usual monotone was a little strained.

Jinx laughed. "You're always so impatient," she replied. "But sure, as you wish."

Her extremely slow movements, inching across Raven's body suddenly stopped and she brought her hands back up to Raven's firm chest, rubbing, pinching again, and the violet haired girl felt her nipples harden, their sensitivity increasing drastically. She gasped a little as Jinx pinched harder, then brought her mouth down, licking and biting lightly. And try as she might, she could not help but let out a low, soft moan.

And abruptly, Jinx stopped, instead letting her hands roam again, down the other girl's flat stomach, brushing against the dark hair on her mound, down her smooth legs... her mouth came up and she kissed Raven on the lips, slightly disappointed when the sorceress did not return it.

"We are not lovers," Raven growled huskily, panting slightly. "You shouldn't be that gentle."

A devilish smile spread on Jinx's face. "I forgot. You like it rough."

"A little pain is always nice."

"I'll be happy to oblige," Jinx's hand dove down pushing in rapidly, feeling Raven's very wet, pulsing core contract around her fingers with each thrust.

Raven sat up, clenching her stomach, and wrapped her arms around Jinx's body, leaning in close to the girl's ear. Jinx blushed furiously and felt the heat in her own body grow as she heard the sorceress's _very_ arousing noises in her ears, quiet, restrained, but that made it all the better, as if it were a private song for only her to hear.

"Lay down," Jinx whispered, and Raven did so automatically, allowing the pinkette access to her parts.

She felt the dark, soft hair tickle her nose as she pressed her mouth down, still pumping in with her fingers. After another couple minutes, she felt Raven's thighs tighten around her, slightly slick with sweat, her noises getting slightly louder.

And then she stopped, grinning as she spotted Raven glare at her, a hint of desperation in her eyes. She did not move or even breathe as Jinx ran a tongue slowly up one leg... then the other... achingly slowly, nibbling closer and closer to her heat...

Back up to kiss her on the lips and Raven could taste herself, noticing that she was probably very excited if she was producing so much fluid. And yet she could not help but feel irritated. Usually Jinx wouldn't defy her at all - no, she would obey her every wish to the letter, but when it came to this particular act, the pinkette would tease her to practically the point of death, drawing out each sensation so terribly slowly, making sure that Raven felt the full pleasure... and impatience with each touch. She sat up moved a hand down, tempted to finish it herself, but Jinx smirked, blocking her and moved her hand down, fingers working rapidly. Raven's arms wrapped around Jinx's body again and she pressed her head very close to the pink girl's ear, feeling her stomach clench almost painfully.

The sound was very quiet, but Jinx was surprised that Raven could even make such an _erotic _noise. She squirmed around, body pulsing, soaking the ground beneath her as well as Jinx's clothes, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

And when they opened, greeted by the sight of the pinkette's flushed, joyous face.

Raven felt that her own cheeks were very red, but ignored her embarrassment - _after all, we've done this plenty of times - _and dove straight in, pushing the other girl down forcefully. And then thought better of it, and slowed it down taking her time with each motion. Taking the girl's clothing off so slowly, drawing out each sensation, even using some of her own sorcery to amplify the emotions and feelings flowing through her, the greatest pleasure from the slightest touch... it felt like an eternity, but eventually Jinx was unclothed as well, left breathing heavily, sweating a little, obviously very excited judging by the state of her glistening parts.

A tiny smirk crossed Raven's lips. Like Jinx, she took her time working her way down, all around the girl's body, for several minutes, not even touching any of her most sensitive areas, merely content with running her hands across the smooth skin, until Jinx felt like she could take no more.

"Raven, _please..._"

She could've sworn that the sorceress actually grinned. "Payback."

_"Please,"_ she whimpered.

Raven rolled her eyes. "I can't say no to that face."

She dove in and felt Jinx's body tighten around her, everything clenched, motionless, seemingly suspended in time, even her breathing stopping. And then her body began pulsing, her mind going blank, unaware of anything except the pure heat between her legs...

And then she was aware of Raven kissing her back, her mouth now tasting of both of them mingled together...

"You kissed me," Jinx panted, breathless.

"You wanted me to, didn't you?" _Among other things. _

Jinx gave a slight nod, then her eyes widened as Raven placed her own body over Jinx's grinding downward, breasts crushed against her own chest. She squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden sensation pushing at her sore underside, but then gathered up what strength remained in her and stopped Raven, pushing her to the ground and moving on top of her. Raven raised an eyebrow.

"You don't get to have all the fun."

"Girl, you're already tired and the night has only begun-"

Jinx laughed, eyes glinting. "Don't underestimate me, my dear lady. I'll be tired tomorrow - strike that - I'll be practically _unconscious _tomorrow, but tonight's a different story."

She could've sworn Raven smiled a little before turning the tables on her again.


	4. Raven and Winter Wind

Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine

It might be that I'm perpetually tired, but lately I've been making typos (which I don't normally do often) and since I don't proofread, revise, or have a beta I don't catch them before the story goes out. So... please tell me if you see anything particularly bothersome so I can fix it.

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

* * *

Raven looked up from her splayed position on her throne as Jinx entered the room, dressed in dark violet, drying her hair with a white towel. She approached the violet haired girl and looked at her, frowning, noticing the wet hair plastered to her face. Evidently, they had both just bathed.

"Aren't you going to be cold if you leave your hair like that?"

Raven looked up from her book, first to Jinx, then to one of the windows. She ran a hand through one of her shoulder length locks, and noticing that it had frozen over a little, frowned very slightly.

"A storm approaches. The worst in many decades."

"Um, what are you talking about?"

"A storm, girl, a storm."

"Like, what kind of storm? A real one or a battle?"

"Both. Though if I intervene, none shall be a problem."

"Oh, so you're talking about the outside world."

Raven nodded. "The two villages near us will be wiped out."

"Well not if you help them, right?"

A slight glimmer in the violet irises. "Yes..."

"You're going to help them, right?"

Another frown. "They are humans." Jinx's brows furrowed at the implication of that statement.

"But that doesn't mean they deserve to die!"

"It is not whether they deserve to or not. It is merely the force of nature. If they cannot withstand it, they will perish. If they can, they will not."

"Lady Raven!" Jinx said sharply, then winced as Raven turned to her, eyes dark. "My apologies." Sometimes, she remembered just how cold and powerful Raven could be, despite how close they seemed at other times.

"I have not meddled in human affairs in many years," the sorceress said softly. "They have always done fine by themselves."

"But what if they need us? I mean, yeah, they're only two small villages, but... well, every little bit counts, right?"

She studied the other woman, watching as her eyes flashed, dulled, then flashed again, some sort of struggle within her mind, conflicted emotions preventing any sort of judgment. Although, she wasn't exactly sure if Raven really was ambivalent about the whole matter, or what had happened to make her detest ordinary humans so much. Of course, there were many possibilities, since they were sorceress after all, but Raven never talked about it. Actually, she rarely talked about anything, especially about anything pertaining to herself.

Raven looked up again and Jinx blushed, knowing that the other woman had sensed her thoughts. She rolled her eyes.

"If you are so insistent on it, fine. I am not against helping them."

Jinx frowned. "You are, you just aren't telling me why. You always try to get rid of me like this-"

"Perhaps you should take the hint then," Raven's voice was ice. "If you realized that-"

The pinkette paled a little. "I'm sorry, my lady. I should think before I talk."

"As long as you admit it," Raven's eyes remained fixated on her book, face smooth and impassive.

Jinx curtsied and left, not wanting to irritate her further.

* * *

It was cold outside, even to her, perhaps a danger sign of the oncoming storm that Raven had mentioned. Jinx shivered and wrapped her robe around her tighter, wandering through the freezing snow. It was uncomfortable, painful even, feeling the flecks of ice fall from the sky and prickle her skin, but she needed somewhere to think, somewhere, away from Raven's storm cloud. _  
_

Even though she had lived with the woman for years, she had yet to figure anything out about her, save for maybe a way to guess at her thoughts a little better than most people could. Reticent to an extreme, Raven rarely spoke at all and rarely showed any sort of expression on her face, not even the slightest hint of emotion at all. Maybe sometimes there could be something seen in her eyes, if one looked very closely, or in the change in tension on the faint lines of her face, but it was hard to tell what that something was.

There was always a hint of melancholy about her, but sometimes that melancholy was augmented by anger, or bitterness. Her stoic nature was not that of a tepid placidity, but instead a brooding, gloomy one. Undoubtedly, she had had a traumatizing past, but it was just that nobody knew exactly what that past happened to be.

_But I know she's capable of caring! Otherwise, she wouldn't have taken me in, right? Lady Raven isn't as self centered as you might think when you first meet her. Actually, strike that. _Raven wasn't self centered at all. It wasn't that she didn't care about other things, it was that she didn't care about anything at all. It might have just been a feeling, but Jinx felt like the dark sorceress didn't even care about her own life. Whether she lived or not didn't matter to her one bit.

Yes, that was the impression that she got when they had first met... Jinx closed her eyes, the images flowing through her mind.

_It was a day like this one, wasn't it? It was really cold, that's what they were saying anyway, but I wasn't cold. I was never cold, since I was a little different from everyone. My parents tried to keep it hidden, but I guess that came back to haunt them._ She took a deep breath, the memories bringing back lost emotions that she was not sure she wanted to feel. _It was an accident. What kind of kid would murder her own parents? I remember being so mad at them because they were going to tell the church about why I was so different from anyone. That I had these weird powers that seemed only to be able to destroy things. _She shuddered. She had heard stories of what the church did to sorceresses, even children that showed signs of any sort of power, and she did not want to imagine what they would have done to her. _I'd imagine they were just frustrated that I kept accidentally breaking things with my powers and tired of keeping me hidden from the world, but seriously, even back then, I knew that calling the church was going to be bad. Really bad. _She bit her lip. In her fit of anger, she must've released some of her powers by accident, because their home had come crashing down on them and it was only by a miracle that she lived through it, though she had been injured pretty badly. Her parents, however... _it was an accident... I keep telling myself that, but I can't help but feel that I have their blood on my hands. Like, what are these powers good for if they can only hurt people? Allow a kid to kill her parents? They'd make me worthless, right? __  
_

_Honestly, I'm glad that Raven took me in, or else I wouldn't have a purpose in living. _A flood of images through her mind. Her parents' bodies, laying broken and bloodied beside her, the pink eyes wide with shock and guilt as she saw them. She remembered everyone rushing over, lamenting the horrible accident, but she was that _weird girl, _so none of them was really too willing to help her, save for give her a bit of food and a shabby shelter at the edge of the village. She lived alone, in the utmost poverty, for four years, until one day, a lady in a white cloak passed through her village in the middle of winter, dressed in thin clothing, but apparently not cold at all. Her face had been shadowed by her hood, but there was something about the hard set to her mouth and the melancholic glimmer of her eyes that spoke of a sort of detachment from reality, not unlike the detachment she had felt, distant from life because she had no purpose in living.

She remembered Raven's words exactly. Actually, she remembered almost everything Raven said, simply because the woman said so little. _You aren't cold. _It hadn't been a question. She remembered nodding, rather uncomfortably, since Raven did appear to be rather scary after all, but then she had come closer and the larger than life aura around her had vanished, leaving nothing but her rather small physical form. Beneath the hood, her violet eyes had glimmered terrifyingly and she supposed Raven must've sensed her fear because she had drawn back her hood, revealing her face to the her. _Would you like to come with me? _She had nodded again, after all, what did she have to lose? Back then, she too, had not cared whether she would've lived or died. But now that she had a goal in mind, new things to learn...

Her cold body bloomed with life, and Jinx opened her eyes. _Yeah. Now that I've got stuff to do, I can't give up, and I especially can't die. I need to prove to the world that my powers, any sorceress's powers can be used for good too, and not just evil. Though, Raven doesn't let me use them outside of Avalon. Says it's for my own safety. _Jinx smiled slightly. _Maybe she does care about me. _

And as if on cue, a shadow appeared behind her, eyes glowing as its wings spread. "The storm is nearing," Raven said quietly.

Jinx took a deep breath, quelled her emotions so that Raven would get annoyed by them, and turned, wiping the smile from her face. "I thought there were two villages to guard."

Around her, suddenly, a flock of ravens gathered and circled her body like a cloak. Raven's eyes narrowed. "They will ward off the storm in the eastern village. We shall do battle in the western one, where our foe will strike."

"You're sure that whoever it is will attack there, right?"

A slight nod. "And remember, you are _not _to use your powers."

"Yes, I know that, my lady."

Raven frowned. She sensed that Jinx was suppressing a storm of emotions inside her, but was not quite sure what the girl was feeling. _I could pry further... but now is not the time for that. The winter wind is on our doorsteps. _She drew her dark cloak around them and they disappeared.

* * *

Richard stared outside at the blizzard, listening to its howling winds creak against the walls of the castle at Camelot. It wasn't too bad here, but it seemed that further out, the winter storm was more intense, and what worried him that it seemed to be most tempestuous near an area where he remembered two villages lay. Judging by the ferocity of the winds, those villages wouldn't last very long at all. They'd all be buried under the snow, or swept away - _and I can't do a thing about it, _he gritted his teeth. What was worse was he remembered two other Titans were travelling through that area and they, too would be caught in the storm if they happened to be there at this moment. If they didn't find some sort of shelter...

"Richard," a hand found its way to his shoulder and he turned.

"Sir Victor," he extended his hand in greeting and they shook. "The Tamaranian princess is safe?"

"Yes," he turned his focus outside. "Any luck finding that sorceress?"

"None." Richard frowned and turned back outside.

Victor sighed, looking solemnly through the window. "There is nothing we can do. The people will have to fend for themselves. We can only lend our aid once the storm clears."

"Titans Roy and Garth may be there too, escorting the Lady Karen here. Did you forget about that? Their lives are in danger."

Victor turned away. "I did not forget. But what do you propose we do? Charge out there and fight the wind itself? We are not wizards, Sir Richard. We do not have what it takes to battle the heavens."

Richard spun around abruptly and stalked past the blue armored knight. "I'm going to pray for them. And all of the people out there in that storm. May God have mercy on them should they fall to this storm."

"Hold on. There's a knight here that-"

"It can wait. Besides, you don't need me to induct him into the Titans. You should be able to figure out if he is suitable or not, Sir Victor. You are perfectly capable-"

"You are the most famed among us, Sir Richard, and many look at you as our leader. It would not be right without your approval."

Richard nodded curtly. "Then I shall see him after I am done."

* * *

_Wake up. _

"Mm, five minutes..."

_Wake up. _

"C'mon, Terra, it's barely dawn. Let me sleep in-"

"Wake up, you fool!" Victor grabbed the ear of the green skinned man and shouted in it, causing him to jump up, reaching for a nearby sword.

"What? Who's there? Enemies?"

The blue Titan put a hand over his face. "No, you idiot, I'm taking you to see Sir Richard, the most famous of us Titans."

Beast Boy scratched his head for a moment, looking around sleepily before it hit him. "Wait. I get to see _Sir Richard? _Wasn't he the one who defeated that giant rock monster in Caerlon? And the lightning monster in Bealton? And-"

"Yes, yes, now hurry up and get in your armor. He wants to see if you are suitable to be a Titan, or if you are merely an ordinary knight."

"Me? An ordinary knight?" He laughed. "I am no ordinary-"

"Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up before we decide to throw you outside into that storm."

"I fear no storm! The earth itself bows before my awesome might-"

"Then we'll force feed you meat."

Garfield paled. "Right then, sir. I shall be ready in five minutes!"

_Five minutes later... _

Richard turned as the green skinned knight came stumbling into the room, stuffing one foot into a metal boot before standing at attention, saluting him. "Hail, Sir Richard, Sir!"

The masked knight raised an eyebrow. "I can already see what you mean, Victor. He's... interesting. But at least he is on time." He paused, then spoke sharply. "Knight! What is your name?"

"Me? I am Sir Garfield, the Beast, mightiest knight in all the land. Um, except for you, great Sir Richard-"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. I spoke with that fair haired girl that you arrived with. The daughter of Lord Markov, I believe. She tells me you saved their land by defeating a dragon in combat."

"Erm, yes. I did defeat it. But I had help."

Richard frowned. "From who?"

"Some friends. A couple nobleladies, actually."

Victor laughed. "Hah! So this is the true nature of the brave Sir Garfield. Outdone by a couple of women-"

"Hey! I'd like to see you fight a dragon by yourself! Besides, I weakened it. That's why they were able to finish it off."

The frown did not leave Richard's face. "Did you see what kind of weaponry they used? _Sorcery, _perhaps?"

Garfield looked at him quizzically, put off slightly by the serious tone of his voice. "Um, no, I didn't. The dragon knocked me out of its lair and by the time I got back up, it was already vanquished."

"Oh, I see," he said softly. "So they might have been sorceresses."

"Maybe. What's the big deal?"

"Sorceresses are evil," Richard said coldly, and Victor nodded from behind him, looking rather harsh as well. "You know the edict decreed by the church, which is the word of God, correct? You know that sorceresses are to be _purified _from their sins, and if they refuse, they are to be burned so that their souls may reside in Hell with the devil for all of eternity."

"But they helped save people-"

"It does not matter what they do! They are evil, and they must be purified! Do you understand this?"

"Uh... y-yes, sir."

"Good. Now, I do not have a doubt as to this character of yours, knight, since you were brave enough to fight a dragon to protect those weaker than you. You have shown that you can be brave and compassionate. However, I would like to test your mettle in combat to see if you are truly worthy of being a Titan."

"So... I have to fight you?"

"Precisely," Richard walked over to a nearby weapons rack and grabbed a simple staff. "Why do you think I brought you to this training room?"

"Oh, good point. Um, what weapon should I use?"

"Any that you so please."

"But you're not wearing armor. What if I hurt you?"

"You need not be concerned with that."

"But-"

Richard sighed. "If it so please you, you may wield a staff as well. Now, are you ready?"

Garfield nodded and raised the staff, watching the other knight carefully. They circled each other for a few moments, then Garfield struck first, leaping in, arms raised. Richard sidestepped the blow and swung his staff around quickly, slamming it against the green knight's armor.

"Lesson one. Don't be impatient."

Garfield stepped back, embarrassed. Had they actually been fighting, that might've been a deep wound in his side, or at least a painful impact blow. He regained his composure and they circled each other again, waiting for a moment to strike. Garfield jump in first again, and as he thought, Richard dodged the blow, but it was a feint and he stopped halfway, sliding to the left and sweeping at the knight's feet. Richard jumped and struck back, his staff meeting Garfield's own as they blocked each other's attacks. And then jumped back.

Richard appeared to be mildly impressed, but apparently was still not satisfied. He dove forward, pressing the assault, swinging the staff around with quick, powerful blows, careful not to leave any openings as he pushed the green knight back. Garfield defended valiantly and tried to counter attack, ducking under one swing and going for the other man's legs, but the other knight had suddenly moved to his right side and landed a blow on his shoulder.

"Lesson two, don't be impatient."

"I thought that was lesson one."

Richard smirked. "Actually, that's all three lessons. Don't be impatient. Whether it is attacking, countering, or stalling, do not be impatient."

Garfield gritted his teeth and readied himself again. This time they traded evenly, a blow for blow stall as they blocked each others' attacks. But eventually he began to tire and as sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes, he failed to react in time to Richard's sweeping movement and was knocked to the ground, staff pointed at his throat. Then quickly replaced with hand to help him up.

"Impressive," Victor said mildly. "Not many last so long against Sir Richard."

The masked knight smiled. "Indeed, he is fairly powerful. Though, not a Titan yet."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Garfield took off his helmet, wiping his face. "I thought that I was strong-"

"Strength alone does not make a Titan, Sir Garfield. You need to have courage in the face of unthinkable odds, wisdom beyond that of the wisest priest, and compassion for all people."

"Including sorceresses?" The green knight smirked.

Richard's eyes flashed. "Except them."

Garfield blinked. "But why? What do you have against them? It's not like-"

Victor held up his hand. "That's enough. The point is, you haven't done enough to prove to the people that you can be a Titan. Through your deeds, you must show them that you are worthy, then you may be inducted into the order. It is a very prestigious one after all, with very few members."

"But wait, how many members do you even have?"

"Seven."

"Only seven?"

"Now do you understand? It is not just anyone who can become a Titan. To even be considered is a great honor."

"Wait, so who are the seven? There's you, Sir Richard... hmm, I think I've heard of another one, Sir Roy? That's three."

Victor looked at Richard. "Shall I tell him? It is supposed to be kept secret-"

"It will be a test of his loyalty, then. With time, his deeds shall be known and he may be inducted into the order yet. Tell him."

The blue knight nodded. "Sir Garth, the Tempest, and," he smirked, "it may surprise you to know, but Lady Karen, the Bee, Lady Kori, the Firestar, and Lady Terra Markov, your own companion, the Earth Warden."

Garfield's jaw dropped. "Terra? But-"

"You thought she was merely some damsel, hmm? No, women can be Titans as well, provided they prove their prowess in battle as well as the other traits necessary. You should feel lucky. It is on her word that you are even being considered." He leaned in close and looked at Garfield knowingly. "She seems to like you."

He blushed. "I- well, err, um, fine, so what am I supposed to do to be a Titan?"

"You named a few of my deeds," Richard approached him, "when you talked with Sir Victor. In your journeys, Terra has assured me, you have been compassionate and kind to those you have seen in need. But as of now, your great deeds number only one, that is the slaying of a dragon, and not even by your own power alone."

"So I need to do more of these 'great deeds'."

"Yes."

"And what counts as a great deed?"

"Slaying a sorceress, for example."

Garfield raised an eyebrow. "What do you have against sorceresses anyway? That's all you seem to talk about."

Richard turned away. "One of the accursed sorceresses from that infernal place called Avalon slew my parents."

It was silent for a moment, as the green knight sat there, somewhat stunned. Somewhat... of course, just because one sorceress did something bad didn't mean that all sorceresses were bad, but it might give someone the wrong impressions. Or traumatize them, something like that. Seeing one's parents die, it could leave a bitter need for revenge, as Richard was exhibiting. Garfield took a deep breath.

"Avalon, huh..."

"A place shrouded in mist, they say. Not many find it, fewer penetrate the mist itself, and yet fewer return from it. They say that it is empty now, but I know that is not true. I know, I saw her do it. That wretched sorceress-"

_Mist... could it be? _"What did she look like?"

Richard studied him carefully. "Why do you ask?"

Garfield struggled with himself for a moment. He hated lying, or hiding things from anyone, but he also didn't want to put Lucky - Jinx - in danger, even if she was a sorceress. After all, she had helped him, and she definitely didn't seem evil at all. She seemed pretty nice, from what he could tell. That other one, though, he wasn't sure about. The darkness about her...

He bit his lip. "I... may have stumbled upon it unknowingly."

"May have?"

He nodded. "It's hard to know for sure, but it was really misty. And there was this girl there, but she gave me food and let me stay the night, so I don't think she was a sorceress. If she was, wouldn't she have killed me on sight?"

Richard frowned. "This girl, what did she look like?"

"She, uh, looked pretty young. Kind of pale. She had pink hair-"

"Then that's not the one I'm talking about, even if she is a sorceress. The one that killed my parents had violet hair and violet eyes," he clenched a fist, fighting down the memories. "She was like the darkness itself... come to claim the lives of the innocent..."

"Oh. Well, who knows then." _So it was the other one. _He frowned. _I guess I could imagine her killing people. Don't know much about her, but just from the way she acted... she seemed really... uncaring._ _But if I sell her out, then I'm selling Jinx out, and that wouldn't really be right either, right? I mean, it's not like they're running around killing people. They actually helped by taking that dragon away. Maybe they're not evil. But maybe they are. I wonder if there are any other sorceresses with violet eyes and powers of dark stuff. _

"But it is a lead. You will have to show me this place of mist sometime."

"Err - o-of course. Can't say I'll be able to lead you to them for sure though. All that mist."

"Any clue will be enough. Sir Garfield," Richard addressed him.

"Yes?"

He extended a hand. "I appreciate your help. Though I cannot name you Titan from merely this, it is a start. For now, you shall be one of the king's knights, a member of his personal guard."

"I- um- thanks?"

"It means that you're elite, stupid," Victor smiled. "Now you can look for a place to stay and call home instead of wandering around everywhere like other knights. And it's the best place too. Won't find anywhere cooler than Camelot."

"Sweet. Man, you guys don't know how excited I am to go and do great stuff with you. Fighting with _Titans..."_

"Yes, well, don't get too excited yet. Can't do anything until this snow clears."

"Oh yeah, true," Garfield looked outside the window, frowning as he saw the snow storm down from the sky. "Those poor people, stuck in that storm... we should pray for them. Hopefully they'll be safe."

"Then come with me. We can do that together. Richard?"

The masked knight stood still in front of the window, staring out at the winter storm, a hard set about his mouth. "I shall stay here alone."

He sensed them leave but did not turn to look, standing there for a long while, his face expressionless, save for a brooding furrow to his brows.

* * *

Darkness faded to white as a pair of figures emerged from a portal and landed on the outskirts of a small village, the wind blowing about them tempestuously. Raven's black cloak shifted to white as she stepped forward and they glided together through the snow to the center of the buildings, which were beginning to wobble with the intensity of the wind.

Jinx shivered, rubbing her arms, and looked at Raven. "Not cold?"

The sorceress did not reply. Focusing the flow of energy within her body, she murmured "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" under her breath and suddenly darkness appeared around her, spreading outward rapidly, repelling the snow and wind. In a vast semicircle, it surrounded the buildings in the immediate vicinity, then further, until it covered the whole village and the snow was stopped. She looked up, as if inspecting her work, then, apparently satisfied, stood there, motionless, maintaining the barrier around the village.

It was not long before people began emerging from their homes, wondering at why the snow had stopped. Many of them, upon seeing the sheer blackness surrounding their village, ran back inside, terrified, but a few approached the two standing in the center of the village, wondering if they were the source of the magical barrier guarding them from the storm. Certainly they could sense that something was very ... _off... _about the one in the white cloak, with her hood shrouding her face, but she seemed so relaxed, so unperturbed that they wondered if she could even produce such a barrier so effortlessly. Even for a sorceress, that seemed impossible.

And then when some of them got near enough, they noticed that the other girl with her had pink hair and pink eyes, and some of them recognized her as the girl who sometimes sold fine cloths from time to time in their village. They waved at her but she seemed not to notice, preoccupied with staring at the figure in front of her, who was apparently deep in thought. Raven frowned and glanced at Jinx, who instantly knew she had found something.

"What is it? That... enemy you were talking about?"

Raven nodded. "He is hiding, though. Not from us. From someone else - ah."

"Realized something?"

The sorceress turned and gestured behind her, to where three people were approaching them. Jinx's eyes narrowed. They weren't scared like the other villagers were. No, they walked with purpose and authority, as if they were not to be challenged by anyone. Two of them wore armor, knights clearly, and the other was a lady with dark skin and dark hair, curled up into two balls on each side of her head.

_Pretend like you don't know me. _Raven's voice sounded in her head and she frowned.

"But-"

_Do not question me. I will handle this myself. _

"But-"

Raven rolled her eyes. _You know well that I am perfectly capable of dealing with this alone. __  
_

"Fine," Jinx whispered, and backed away, pretending to accidentally bump into one of the knights.

She looked back, fake fear shining in her eyes. "I-I'm so sorry," she said in a tiny voice. "I was just-"

"It's fine, little lady. We'll take it from here," one of them said reassuringly, looking at her through his helmet.

Jinx frowned. _He's wearing a mask... is it that Richard guy? No, his voice is different. I wonder, though... _

The trio strode forward and approached Raven, who did not even bother to turn to greet them. They waited patiently for a moment before speaking, wondering if they had drawn her attention.

"Sorceress. We would ask that you stand down and come with us. You know the law of the land. All who possess unnatural powers given to them by the devil are to be purified, so that you might join the one God in the afterlife, despite your sins."

Raven blinked, still not turning.

"Sorceress, do you hear us? Answer!"

It was still silent, save for the howling winds outside of the barrier. The other knight approached her and tried to grab her shoulder, but instantly he was thrown back by dark energy before he could reach her. Frowning, he withdrew and stood by the dark skinned woman, whispering into her ear.

"She is powerful, _very _powerful. What do we do?"

"Strong enough to take on all three of us?"

"I... don't know for sure. She might be hiding her true strength, or she may be wielding the full extent of her powers right now. I cannot say for sure."

"Then we should wait for an opportunity."

"Sounds reasonable."

The knight cleared his throat. "Know that by defying us, sorceress, you defy the Titans of the Round Table, the King Bruce Wayne, and God himself. Should you continue to resist, God will not hesitate to smite you-"

"Then I await," Raven said quietly. "If what you say is true, then God will smite me in a few minutes, hmm?"

"Such insolence-"

"Calm yourself, Garth," the dark skinned woman said sharply. "Let her be." Her voice dropped to a whisper again. "Antagonizing her will not help us. I loathe to resort to such tactics, but if we must, a knife in the back will suffice-"

"That is usually considered dishonorable."

"Only when dealing with another honorable opponent," the other knight said. "With a sorceress, there is no honor or courage. Only treachery. And deceit. A villain is a villain."

And then suddenly, all three of them were aware that the sorceress was standing right behind them. "Instead of plotting on taking me down, perhaps you should return to your original search, _Titans. _Your quarry hides within this town, right under your very noses."

They backed away, startled, wondering how she had snuck up behind them so silently, wondering how she had even heard them above the howl of the tempest outside her barrier. How she knew about-

"Wait. How do you know about him?"

No reply. The knight with the mask gave off a noise of irritation. The sorceress's uncooperative nature was really beginning to irk him. "Speak! How do you know of the one we pursue?"

Raven turned, opening her eyes, and the three of them gasped. Deep, stark, violet. They had all heard of Sir Richard's description of the sorceress that had slain his parents, the one with violet eyes and powers of darkness. Could it be..?

Garth bared his teeth and drew his sword, apparently prepared to charge forward, but he was stopped by his two companions. "No! Do not be blinded by your rage, Garth! You can't just charge in-"

"Who are you?!" He shouted at her. "What is your purpose in coming here?! How do you know about the sorcerer Slade?! Answer, sorceress!"

"My purpose?" She said slowly, sarcastically, gesturing to the barrier around her. "Saving this village from the storm, clearly."

"That's a lie! There's no way-"

"Be still, Garth," the other knight stopped him and walked forward slightly. "Sorceress. I am Sir Roy, the Speedy, best archer in all the land. Have you heard of me?" Of course, Raven did not reply. He did not expect any less. "Disregarding all previous questions, I wish to ask you... you say you know about this sorcerer that we pursue. If this is true, then perhaps you can lead us to him?"

"Roy! You're not seriously thinking of asking for her help-"

"I said be still! This works to our advantage too. He _was _our original target, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"You'll see."

Raven's lips twisted into a slight smirk. Darkness flared up all around her, looming, threatening. The two knights drew their swords, thinking she would attack, while the dark skinned lady drew back, reaching into her jacket, where a dagger was hidden. And still, without a single movement, back still turned to them, the sorceress gathered her power and scoured the village, then finding her target, engulfed him with her energy and teleported him in front of the three Titans.

"Welcome," she whispered, as the man suddenly seemed to wake up, looking around, slightly startled.

A strange man, wearing a black and orange mask over his face, only one eye showing, through the orange side, dressed in half metal, half cloth, as if it were an armor-robe combination. He was a fairly large man, though judging by his build, very agile as well, and judging by the tension in his body, ready to react to any attack that might come at him.

"Titans," he said calmly, as if he were in control of the situation. "I see you've found me." He shifted and took a glance at the white cloaked figure, whose back was turned to him. "And I see you've found a new friend."

"Slade," Roy frowned, pointing his sword at the man. "The king has decreed that you are to be executed-"

"For?"

"For the murder of four hundred sixty seven citizens of Camelot, the abduction of two noblemen, destruction of royal property, attempted coup, the practice of sorcery... you get the point. You're going to be executed. Now, face your fate."

Slade chuckled quietly. "I don't think so, boy. You're not enough to take me down. None of you are. But, if you insist on trying, come right ahead."

Roy gritted his teeth and sheathed his sword, pulling the bow off his back and drawing an arrow. Slade smirked. "Ah yes, I remember. Your sword is just for show."

"Sure, I'll give you a show," the masked Titan replied smoothly, letting his arrow fly forward.

Slade caught it mid flight, between his fingers, and looked at it carefully for a minute, then toward Roy. "Did you really think that would hit me-" suddenly the arrow exploded and the area was covered in smoke.

"Thank you Victor," Roy smiled, but then his expression turned serious as Slade emerged from the smoke, wielding a staff of dark energy.

Jumping forward, he attacked, blocking the barrage of arrows that flew at him and swept downward, narrowly missing his target, then across Roy's body, again missing as the knight jumped. He spun back, sensing Garth approaching behind him and blocked the knight's sword, jumped aside, dodging another arrow, then faced the two of them warily.

The two Titans tensed, aware that their opponent was not one that would be easy to take down. Incidentally, sorcerers were very rare for whatever the reason, much rarer than sorceresses, and most were not terribly powerful in terms of magical prowess, but in Slade's case, that was more than compensated for by his speed and strength.

Indeed, as they clashed again, he outmaneuvered the both of them and landed a blow with the staff on Roy first, a painful impact to the ribs, then as Garth charged in, ducked the sword swing and kicked him back. The staff shifted to two swords and fire spread across each of the blades, scorching the air around them as he swung them about. The two Titans faced him again, swords drawn, and attacked, meeting him blow for blow, block for block, but as they continued fighting, the fire from Slade's swords began to cut into their own, until at last their steel blades broke in half and cooled into jagged stumps.

Slade pressed the assault and even as Roy managed to grab a hold of one of his wrists, he kicked the knight back with a vicious blow, then felt something come in contact with his back. Garth's eyes widened in surprise as the remains of his sword did not even penetrate the leather that the sorcerer was dressed in - even if it was broken, the edge should have been sharp enough to cut through cloth and skin alike.

"Enchanted armor," he frowned. "That's-"

"I'm a sorcerer. You didn't expect me to play fair, did you?" He kicked the knight back and walked toward him. "Ah, the wonders of enchanting. It allows you to create an armor as strong as normal armor, but as light as that of normal clothing. Do you know what kind of agility that allows you?"

And then his eye widened as he felt pain in his shoulder.

"Ah, the wonders of talking too much and showing your opponent weak spots in your armor."

Slade spun around quickly and leapt back as the dark skinned lady raised her dagger, trying to strike again. He clutched his shoulder, feeling it sting a little, but the wound had not penetrated deep, at least. His single visible eye narrowed.

"I underestimated you. I thought-"

"That because I was a woman, I would be unarmed? Guess again."

Slade chuckled. "No matter. One more ant won't make a difference. You're all going to die here."

"We'll see about that," Garth and Roy joined her, both looking a little battered but still standing, at least.

"Oh, really?" Suddenly, Slade raised a hand and fire formed in his palm.

Some sort of inscription was revealed on the ground below the three of them and it exploded, blasting them with intense fire. When the smoke cleared, it revealed three battered figures on the ground, all burnt badly, though he knew that if he allowed them to recover, they would still be a threat to him. Slade walked forward.

"Well, it was nice knowing you, Titans, and mystery lady, but I'm afraid this fight is over. See you in the afterlife."

Everyone's eyes widened as Slade formed some sort of odd, bluish fire in his hands and aimed it at them, letting it charge up. Some of the villagers watching the fight looked away and Jinx tensed up from her location hidden behind a building. As much as she didn't really like the Titans for not trying to understand that Raven wasn't a bad person... was it okay to just watch and let them die?

_Too late. _The fire rocketed down, but then darkness spread and blocked it, dissipating the attack. Slade frowned beneath the mask, turning toward the white cloaked figure that had still not moved. His eye narrowed and he advanced toward her aggressively, knowing she was the cause of it.

"What are you doing?!" He hissed at her. "You wield magic too, so you should understand! These bumbling idiots would have us dead, no matter what we do! They would destroy us without a second thought and kill all those we care about!"

"Like your son," Raven replied quietly.

Slade froze. "How do you know about that?"

Raven still did not turn. "Both of your sons, your daughter, and your wife. When they found out that you possessed these... powers, and still refused to turn yourself in, they killed your family in front of your eyes, did they not?"

He let out a low, dangerous growl. "You did not answer my question."

"So it is revenge you seek? Attacking the innocent doesn't seem like the right way to go about it, does it?"

"They killed my innocent family as well. Why should the people who follow the church be any different? An innocent life for an innocent life. Those who are responsible are never held responsible for it."

Raven laughed, but there was no mirth behind it. "You make a good point. No matter what, the guilty are never held accountable, not until everything is settled. But still," she said softly. "I cannot allow you to kill them."

"And why not?! They would kill you too, without a second thought!"

"They are no threat to me."

"That does not change the facts, sorceress. We are in the same boat. Surely you must have lost someone in the past to these pigs as well! Someone perfectly innocent, who had nothing to do with any of your _abilities from the devil, _so they call them, and yet they were still punished for being related to you. You must have lost something-"

Raven turned slightly. There was a dangerous, tense silence. Slade drew back, cloaking himself in fire, sensing the threatening aura from the woman. "I should just be rid of you now," she whispered. "You are merely a pest."

"You are a fool," he replied. "Even if you could be rid of me here, it would change nothing. People will still die. The land will still burn. And they will still hunt you." He paused. "And, don't think I'll be so easy to take down. You may be powerful, but I have a few tricks too."

Suddenly, fire burst out from beneath Raven and blasted upward, burning at her body. He snorted.

"Didn't see that coming, did you?" He waited patiently as the fires died away, and was shocked when he saw that she was completely unharmed - apparently, she hadn't even shielded herself, but for some reason, the fire just didn't affect her.

She turned toward him fully and there was a wicked gleam in her eyes, almost a demonic one, if he had to describe it.

"Fire, huh? I'll show you fire," she growled, and then flames burst out everywhere, an immense inferno of a multitude of colors, crimson, violet, gold, orange, azure, all swarming around the sorcerer in a rainbow sphere, blazing through his enchanted armor and into his body, burning apart skin, muscle, and bone alike. And as quickly as they burst out, the flames vanished, leaving a thoroughly roasted man with nothing but his mask still attached to his face.

She glided over to him and stared down, like some dark goddess passing judgment upon him. But as he continued staring at her, there was an odd softness that he noticed in her shadowed eyes, perhaps a bit of understanding. She knelt down, staring into his one visible eye, but he got the feeling that she could see past his mask, see his real face that he had hidden away for years.

"You may think me cruel," she whispered, "but it's better this way. All you have to live for is revenge, and you suffer for it, whether you know it or not. It has consumed you, Sorcerer Slade."

"I-"

"Do not speak," Raven rose up again, and darkness spread everywhere. "Be at peace."

And when the black faded, his body was gone. The sorceress stared at the spot for a moment, then glided over to the three Titans, who were still struggling to get up. She extended a hand bathed in blue light toward the woman, knowing she would be the least likely to shove her away, and found that her suspicion was correct when her hand made contact with the center of her back with no sign of resistance. Slowly the burns faded, the pain dissolving away as Raven absorbed it into her own body. The dark sorceress gave off no sign of discomfort as all of the pain from the wounds entered her flesh, but perhaps the shadows beneath her eyes grew a little darker, perhaps her hand trembled a little, but nothing more than that. She was used to pain.

Cautiously, she withdrew her hand and moved over to one of the knights, Roy, she remembered his name, and extended a hand forward-

A sword flashed up and she caught it by its edge, frowning at it. A moment later, it was vaporized and she knelt, only to have the knight catch her wrist, bending downward. She rolled her eyes and encased his body in dark energy, forcing him to be still. Slipping her hand out of his grasp, she rubbed her sprained wrist for a moment before healing him as well, then moved over to the other Titan, Garth, and immobilized him as a precaution before doing the same. Absorbing his pain away, she then stood and let them all rise as well.

"Why?"

She closed her eyes, knowing that they would ask her that. "I am a healer," she muttered, "and though it may seem otherwise, I am primarily a healer. And as a healer, I heal those who need it. It's that simple."

"That's a lie!"

"You already said that a while back."

"And yet you're still lying."

Raven did not respond. She looked back at her barrier guarding the village, noticing that it was giving way before the tempestuous storm outside. Fueling some more energy into it, she restored its strength and looked down again.

"Your healing. How does it work?" The dark skinned lady - _Karen, if I remember correctly - _asked her, frowning. "And since when could sorceresses heal?"

"It is not without a price. I can heal almost any wound, but the pain from it is taken into my own body as compensation."

"Impossible. There's no way you could feel all those burns without any sign of pain-"

"And yet I just did."

Garth gritted his teeth and grabbed his broken sword, marching toward her. "I grow tired of your lies, sorceress. You _will _answer our questions truthfully. Who are you? What are you doing here?-"

"And are you the one who killed Richard's parents?" She said quietly before he could. He grimaced at her, pure fury etched on his face.

"So it was."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I am merely asking the question for you."

"Enough!" Roy joined his friend and approached her. But as he tried to grab her, his hand was thrown back by dark energy, as he should've expected, and he felt pain shoot through his wrist.

Raven smirked a little. "A sprained wrist for a sprained wrist, hmm? Unfortunately I cannot heal my own body, outside of certain circumstances."

"You little-"

"Stop it, you two. I'll do the talking," Karen spoke from behind them, approaching Raven cautiously. "So," she said slowly, carefully. "I realize that you have helped us, no matter what your intentions, and for that we are thankful."

Raven closed her eyes, sensing that, of course, it was a blatant lie. She had already proven she could read minds. What did the lady think she could gain by lying to her?

"But your help was not necessary."

The dark sorceress could not help but let out a low, amused chuckle that cut off in a half growl. "How ungrateful," she hissed. "I save this village, get rid of your quarry, which you could not handle, and heal your bodies, and you still wish to antagonize me, is that it?"

Her eyes shifted to the barrier, lips frowning darkly. "Fine. Take care of this village by yourselves. Pray that it doesn't get destroyed by this storm, and you along with it."

And suddenly, the barrier faded and Raven had shifted into a bird of pure black energy, with crimson eyes, a hint of violet underneath them, gleaming, half lidded, in the snowstorm. It flew off through the buildings, disappearing into the veil of snow, and was gone. The Titans stared at it for a moment, then realized that it was getting cold, _really _cold, and _really _windy, and that the village huts were slowly being torn from the ground, and that they would freeze to death if they didn't find any shelter.

"Smooth," Roy turned to Karen as they went back to the inn, shivering.

She glared at him. "As I recall, you didn't want her help either. You're the one who sprained her wrist. Talk about antagonizing a powerful sorceress."

"But if she's the one who killed Richard's parents-"

"We'll deal with it later. Let's hope we last the night."

* * *

Raven landed behind a building, in front of a pink haired girl, and looked around, making sure nobody else was near.

"Jinx-"

"Raven! What are you doing?! You have to put that barrier back up or else these people will all die! Look!" Jinx pointed at one of the buildings on the outskirts of the village, which was already nearly torn straight off the ground by the sheer force of the wind.

Raven frowned. "I no longer care-"

"Yes, you do."

"No, I do not. If they do not want my help, fine. They can survive without it."

"Raven, I know that they weren't exactly being nice, but these are innocent people!"

"Slade was right. The innocent suffer for the actions of the guilty. That is the law of this world."

"Then break that law! You don't have to follow it like everyone else does! Besides, it's not like they're even dangerous to you-"

"I do not wish to help those who would try to attack me even as I aid them. They can all die for all I care."

"Raven!" Jinx whispered harshly, but her gaze faltered a little as Raven looked at her darkly.

Unlike before, however, she did not back down. "This isn't right! We have to do something."

"Girl, I am done helping. Now, are you coming with me or not?"

"Raven... they're innocent! Most of them probably have nothing against you and would totally help you-"

The sorceress frowned. "My mind is set. Are you coming, or not?"

Jinx glared at her. "Fine. Have it your way. You can go back alone. I'll find my way back by myself."

The pinkette got up and walked off, disappearing into the veil of snow. Raven stared at her for a while, then closed her eyes and sat, a brooding gloom overtaking her mind.


	5. Raven and Dream

Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine

This one's a little shorter since it's basically a single scene chapter. Also remember that in the "dream" sequence, Jinx will seem OOC because it's Raven imagining what she says.

And... this chapter's a little weird (especially since I wrote this from 1:00-3:30AM today), but it's mostly a dream so I suppose that might just be excusable - the stream of conscious type of writing does tend to be a bit confusing. Hopefully it's not too bad.

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

* * *

_Dream _

Moonlight flitted through her eyes as darkness faded away. Flecks of snow drifted in from the open window, where the curtains fluttered in the soft wind, pale and cold. Sitting up, she clutched the blankets around her bare chest and looked outside, at the white covered land, leafless trees still, almost like a picture, jutting from the ground, distant hills casting slight shadows over the forests surrounding them.

Tonight, the moonlight was a slight shade of pink instead of violet, or blue, or red, or green - whatever color it decided to reflect when her powers worked on it. The tinted radiance lent everything a rosy quality, giving off the sensation of warmth, ardor, life, a sense of vitality that none of the other colors could give to the hueless snow. Yes, she knew that pink had once represented her emotion of happiness, but this shade was more than mere happiness. Or maybe less than. She wasn't exactly sure what pink meant to her now.

Actually, this wasn't just pink. It was this particular hue of pink, with a slightly more lustrous tone to it, a little more red than just the regular pink, not superficial like the normal super bright color, but with a deep, rich undertone to it, not really pink at all once you looked at it carefully, but myriad of colors that just happened to appear very close to that particular shade of pink, all blended together into a vivid mosaic painted on the fresh snow.

Unlike many other colors, this one made her feel a little more in touch with reality - it did not have the cold, detached feel of the darker shades, nor the superficiality of the brighter ones; it was the perfect mix of emotional attachment to the world, yet the representation of the darkness that made her feel as if everything were just an illusion, like nothing was real, like nothing mattered.

In short, it was a color that made her _feel, _like no other color could. Was it significant then, that it was a color that reminded her of Jinx...

Raven frowned and got up, looking in the floor length mirror opposite her bed. Her half lidded, sparkling eyes traced up her body. Despite having lived for many hundreds of years, she still retained her youthful form - her body, still slim, mostly composed of firm muscle from the physical exercise she did while traversing Avalon every day, perhaps a little too slim if one were to judge her because she ate very little. A hand traced down her ribs, down her legs as she stretched gracefully, lessening the ever present tension in her body. Yes, she appeared to be relaxed, but that was far from the truth if one were to actually touch her, to feel all of the muscles straining without rest. Almost unimaginable how she could even survive like that, let alone function so well, but Raven's body wasn't normal.

Up her ribs, her chest was still firm and supple, skin still smooth and flawless, like that of a girl still in her teens. Of course, she would never be mistaken for a normal person because of the odd greyish color of her skin, which marked her as an obvious sorceress - in normal terms, someone to be feared, shunned, pursued as a heretic disobeying the teachings of the church.

She looked at her own face. She knew that Jinx thought that she was beautiful. Certainly she did have finely shaped, quite feminine features when she showed her face, though that wasn't often. Surprisingly, in contrast to her personality, she had quite a soft face that would have been compassionate and caring, if it had any emotion in it at all. Which usually it didn't. And then to her eyes...

What else was there to say about them? Perhaps it was noteworthy that in this instance, the violet sparkled with more pink than normal - yes, pink flecks positively stormed behind the surface of mauve, but what did it mean? It wasn't as if she didn't notice, but... _I do know what all this pink means. _She closed her eyes. Of course she knew what it meant. But going down that path... _I can't handle it. I vowed never to allow myself feel like that again. And I have to stick to that. _

Outside of the window, high in the sky, slowly the moon's light dulled, shifting to a pale grey, almost like it were casting mist over the land instead of light.

* * *

A shadow passed out of the black building with colored spires, so faint that at first it was hard to tell that it was even there. A dusky color the same as the light around it, it seemed surreal, a specter. Floating aimlessly here and there, it was only visible as the snow fell on its ashen cloak, on the cinereal hood that covered its face completely, not even showing the usual gleam of the eyes underneath.

Around her, the snow no longer sparkled, above, the sky covered in a blanket of grey clouds, masking the crescent moon that did not seem to be so much a crescent anymore, but instead tilted, into a double horned shape, almost like... _it reminds me of her. _She frowned, surprised that she had even thought of that, then continued wandering about as her surroundings began to waver. The air distorted, shadows cast everywhere, reality seemed to bend, and she frowned, wondering if it was just the moonlit night or something else.

Drifting forward, toward the forest, the familiar darkness beckoning to her, her body aching to feel the blackness close about her. Bereft of feeling, completely numb, cold to the point of being frozen over. But she enjoyed it. After all, what had feeling anything brought her except pain?

Not that pain was completely bad. Sometimes, it reminded her that she was alive. And there was something about the hurt that was as stimulating as anything else, a sort of rush of physical feeling through her, enlivening. But as for the other kind of pain...

_Life is chaos. _Raven looked about, feeling the wind stir around her. Snow spiraling in a whirlwind of ash. It billowed at her cloak, but she did not stir, letting it do whatever it wanted with her. _Life is chaos... and our own individual existence is determined by how we deal with the chaos. There are those few who thrive in it... and there are those who prefer order born from chaos. Order, rising from the tempestuous winds that blow around us, bringing stability to our lives._

The winds calmed as she brought her arms up. _To an extent, everyone requires a bit of order, and everyone desires a little bit of chaos. The balance between them determines who we are. But... _she frowned and let her arms drop, letting the gale form around her again, tearing at her body with forceful wind, bullets of snow hammering into her. _What if we do not know how much order, or how much chaos we enjoy? What if we do not know who we are?_

_I do not know what I want. _

And suddenly the snow whirling around her burst into color, not just the warm pink from earlier, but a plethora of everything, all shades of crimson, mauve, lavender, azure, navy, emerald, grass, topaz, amethyst, indigo... it was as if she was asking herself to pluck her favorite colored snowflake from the limitless spiral around her. How could it be done? Was it possible to know what she really wanted?

She let the wind die away, the rainbow of snow around her falling to the ground, pale, colorless again. _Better to not want anything. Better to not expect anything. To live without hope, and die fulfilling nothing, because there was nothing to fulfill to begin with. Better than living, hoping, but being unable to fulfill those hopes. Better to feel nothing at all... _

She drifted forward, beneath the leafless trees, between darkness and grey moonlight, the night around her silent.

_No, not completely silent... _she paused, listening carefully, then frowned as she heard something very unexpected. Or perhaps felt it. Or maybe saw it. _Sight, sound, touch, sensation... it is all the same to me. No matter what form of feeling it is... it is there. _

A rush of sadness, regret, frustration tore through her. Maybe it sounded like a soft wail, maybe it looked like a girl bent over, crying. A bitter taste. She wasn't sure, but it was there. A emotion that was not her own, but resonated with her body uncomfortably well.

She moved forward, in the direction of the sensation.

And then became acutely aware of the ravens gathering in the trees above her, their crimson eyes looking down dolefully, but the melancholy was repressed, hidden away deep within their beings. Had she not been an empath, she probably wouldn't even have been able to detect their sadness. _These ravens. My only companions, through these long years... _

She tore her gaze away from them, wandering through the forest. They followed her.

Then she felt one land on her shoulder, one with feeling storming through it unlike any of the other ones. This one's emotions were not muted at all, no, they were near its surface, easily accessible, the shell hiding them easily broken - at least to her it would be easy.

Raven's breath caught in her throat. _Do I look? _

"Jinx," she whispered aloud.

The raven flew off her shoulder and landed on the groShe turned her gaze ever so slightly and caught sight of _pink _eyes.

und in front of her, morphing into the figure of a girl, initially completely black, with glowing pink eyes, then slowly filling with color, the grey of her skin, the pink of her double horned hair, mirroring the moon in the sky, a dark dress spinning about her.

"Raven," she replied tonelessly.

It was silent for a long while as they looked at each other. Around them, more ravens gathered, watching from the trees.

As usual, Jinx was the first to speak. "Tonight's been really weird. It doesn't feel right."

Raven looked toward the sky, the hood falling from her head, revealing her face to the dusky light. The forest wavered, distorted, the trees and ground and even the clouds and moon changing shape as shadows darted everywhere. Everything flickered, reality itself quivering, then returned to normal as Raven held a hand to her head, brows furrowing. Jinx moved forward, but the sorceress waved her back, clearing her mind.

"It is an odd night," she murmured. "Perhaps we should not be out here."

"But isn't this where you're most comfortable? I thought you preferred to be out here."

"There are many things that even I do not know," Raven said softly. "Things that only the ravens know, but will not speak of."

She paused as the quiet sound of a song caressed the air, face still tilted upward. Jinx remained silent as well, looking up at the ravens, who had begun to sing. Their voices were, for some reason, eerily familiar, even though she knew that she should have no idea who, or what those voices belonged to. Some higher pitched, some lower, all female by the sound of them, not the songs of birds at all, but a chorus of disembodied sirens.

"You're wrong," Jinx whispered. "They _do _talk."

Raven closed her eyes. "Yes. They do. But nobody listens to them."

"Except you. And me, but only sometimes. Other than that, they are alone."

Raven cringed a little, but managed to keep her face still. She turned away, acutely aware of the girl's eyes on her back. The dark sorceress pulled her hood over her head, feeling a faint sense of unhappiness stir within her. Why were Jinx's eyes so strange? Why did she look so detached, disappointed, unfeeling, almost like herself? Why did she look like she had borne some unbearable pain and had shoved her emotions away because of it? _You're not supposed to feel like that. You weren't supposed to go through that? What happened? _

"You happened," Jinx muttered, then turned back into a raven, flying off, joining the chorus of other ravens in the trees.

Among them one voice was particularly clear, a strikingly dissonant chord with the rest of the sound. _Maybe you don't listen after all. Maybe you don't listen to my song and that's why... __  
_

Raven turned her dark eyes toward the ravens and floated upward, but as she reached for them, they began disappearing, dissipating in puffs of black. And as she approached the pink eyed one, her hand trembled, very slightly, uncertainty registered in the slight curve to her mouth. _No. _

She thought better of it and withdrew her hand, floating away, leaving the pink eyed raven to sing alone in the moonlight.

* * *

_Why do you shun me? Why do you not listen? Why do you shut me out? _

A shadow, passing through the trees, moving ever more rapidly as the voices followed her, knowing that she could not escape them, but moving more quickly all the same, as if she thought she could outpace them.

But it was impossible. After all, they were things that she had buried in her heart long ago.

_Why have you abandoned me? You are here, but not really here in spirit. Where are you, Raven? Where have you lost yourself? _

"I am here," she muttered, agitated. "I'm right here. What are you talking about?"

_You aren't really here. This cold, frozen statue of your body is not really you. The real you is gone, locked away somewhere, the key long lost. Where are you, Raven? _

"I'm here," she murmured again, more softly, voice tight.

_You're here now. But you're never here when I need you. When everyone needs you. Why do you abandon- _

"I'm not abandoning _anyone,_" she hissed. "They abandoned me. No, they wanted to destroy me, and I wanted to live? Is there something so wrong about that?"

_You were never in any danger, except from yourself. Abandoning everyone was not the choice to make._

"I didn't."

_You didn't help when you could._

"They don't deserve it."

_Since when have you gotten so petty, dear Raven? You were not like this in the past. _

"Well I've changed."

_Remember your own words, Raven. You are a healer, but more than that you are a protector. You protect those in need. And in truth you are not doing that at all. Just because there are those out there who hate you-_

"They all hate me."

_You would leave them to die. _The voice shifted. _You'd leave me to face the world alone._

"I wouldn't do such a thing."

_You already have. Raven, where are you? Where is the real you? Behind that mask that you have worn for so long, there has to be something... _

"There is nothing," she whispered. "I have nothing to offer, save for my presence and company. Beyond that..."

_I know you don't like showing any of yourself to anyone else, but maybe you can shed that mask just for me? You don't have to do it for anyone else. Just me-_

"I do not wear a mask, Jinx. This is who I am."

_Then what am I still doing here? _

The voices deserted her and Raven paused, frowning, feeling the solitude press in about her.

* * *

For once in her life, she shivered. Why did it suddenly feel so cold? Raven drew her grey cloak about her body, trying to ward off the chill from the snow, but it did not help in the slightest. After all, if her body produced no heat, what heat was there to contain beneath her clothing?

If anything, in fact, the frosty sensation seemed to emanate from _within _her, rather than from outside. _How strange. I have always felt numb, but never cold. Not like this. It almost feels like... I'm missing something. There is some warmth to be had, that my body desires, but cannot be found within this endless expanse of snow. It cannot be found anywhere. _

The snow began falling more heavily, blocking out the moonlight almost entirely, only the dim light from the stars providing her any bearing on her surroundings. She fancied that they were cold eyes, staring down at her impassively, not unlike her own eyes when she looked at other people, unsympathetic to her needs, uncaring toward her desires. _After all, to the heavens, I'm just another wanderer. Why does it matter what I want? _

She fought down the faint feeling growing within her, biting her lip, returning to the void of her usual apathy. She took a long, slow breath. _Just a moment of weakness. I must remember. I cannot desire anything. I do not need anything. And I do not matter at all. Death, or life, it is all the same. To the heavens, I am just another wanderer. If I am gone, nobody will miss me. _

"I'll miss you."

Raven spun around, eyes darkening. "I thought you wanted nothing to do with me," she said quietly. "Because I have nothing to give you."

"Doesn't mean I won't miss you."

"Why should you care about me?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

Raven frowned. "You're being difficult."

Jinx stepped forward from the shadows into the dim light that still remained in the forest. "So are you," she muttered. "You've always been difficult."

"No, I haven't. You're just looking for something - someone - that doesn't exist."

"I really doubt that," Jinx said coolly, in a tone startling similar to Raven's.

Raven's eyes narrowed and the pinkette responded with a light chuckle. "I sound like you, don't I?"

"Too much like me," the violet haired girl growled. "You shouldn't talk like that-"

"And why not? Am I not allowed to feel pain either? Be hurt by being abandoned? Am I supposed to look forward to a life completely alone so cheerily, like it's going to be fun or something?"

"You're not alone-"

"But you know, I am. I thought I could find someone to share my feelings with and try to understand her feelings at the same time. You know, because I thought we were similar. Obviously, I was mistaken. I forgot, you don't feel _anything._"

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"I... just can't. You should understand."

"I don't. Enlighten me."

Raven frowned. "You've never acted like this before..."

"Well maybe I'm fed up with you acting like you don't care about anything when you actually do!"

"I don't care about anything."

Jinx glared at her. "You know, I thought you were better than that. I didn't think you'd let a petty fight with those Titan guys stop you from saving all those people. I thought you might actually care about saving them enough to - well, obviously you didn't."

"They're not dead, Jinx."

"That's not the point. They all _could've _died and you wouldn't have lifted a finger to help."

"Well like I said, I don't care about anything-" Raven bit her lip, immediately regretting her words. _That did not come out the way I wanted it to. _

Jinx's eyes widened, then hardened into bitter pools of pink. "You're acting like the type of sorceress that the Titans believe you are. If you really don't care about human life at all..."

Raven remained silent, hood shadowing her face. Jinx waited for a few moments, then gave off a noise of disgust.

"I didn't mark you for the type to hold a grudge. These people had nothing to do with anything that happened in the past or anything to do with the Titans hunting you."

"Well, I do hold grudges. Now you know."

The pinkette scowled. "And what's worse is you actually helped those Titans - you fucking saved _their _lives and healed them even though they're the ones hunting you, but you don't bother saving all those innocent people. How do you expect their image of you - of _us _to get any better if you won't even do that for them?"

"I don't expect our image to get better. They already think we're evil, and that's not going to change."

"Then maybe I should leave."

Jinx turned. Raven watched her for a moment, then spoke in a very tiny voice, almost like she was... afraid? "Why?"

"I mean, obviously we have conflicting interests. I want to make people think that sorceresses can be good too. But you... don't care about anything. Not even yourself. So why should it matter either way?"

"Because-" Raven clenched her hands into fists, trying to work up the words in her throat, but finding that she could not summon any feeling, any strength to summon up what she wanted to say. Maybe it was because she was scared that it would arouse some unpleasant feeling within her, or maybe she was afraid of something else... what would happen if she admitted how deep down, beneath the barriers she had set up to contain her emotions, what if she admitted that something... _dared to hope, _then have that hope go unfulfilled?

A number of scenarios went through her mind. What if Jinx was killed, or taken away, or what if she died of natural causes - not all sorceresses were ageless - or what if something happened that would cause her to depart forever? If she allowed herself to feel anything... _if I allow myself to feel anything, or hope for anything and that were to happen, I know I wouldn't be able to handle it. So I won't let myself feel anything, and it will be okay either way. She can go, and I will be alone... and I will feel nothing. _

She bit her lip, still trying to summon up the words as Jinx waited patiently. _If I dare to hope, and I admit it... so many things could go wrong if I did that. If I admit that... then I also open myself up to despair. Violent despair, much more than this melancholy that pervades the air. I have felt it before... _she clutched at her heart, the faint memories bringing back faint feelings of what that anguish had felt like. When she had lost everyone, when she had seen them die before her eyes, unable to do a thing to stop it, when so many things had happened... in the past, she had felt a lot. Too much, _far too much. In the end, I figured out that quelling my emotions was better. At least I would not have to deal with everything anymore. I could live... in peace. _

"Because," she sighed, returning to her original answer, but finding that she really could not answer.

_I can reason through it logically all I want, _she finally admitted to herself. _But that won't change how I feel. I have to bury that, and let whatever happens happen. _

"Fine," Jinx responded after a moment, watching Raven sadly, but turning nonetheless. "If you don't want to admit that you were wrong and if you don't want to admit that you really do care or at least _should _care, then I'm going to go. There's no point in sticking around here if you're not going to help me."

"You'll be alone," Raven whispered.

"So? Eventually I'll meet someone else who accepts me, who I can actually talk to, and who actually feels something. Not like you."

"Jinx-"

"I'm going." She disappeared into the veil of snow, leaving Raven to stand there alone, an awful sense of dread creeping up on her through her emotional detachment.

* * *

Raven woke up, sweating slightly, sitting up instantly as she saw the moonlight stream through the open window, the curtains fluttering lightly. Shivering, she drew the blankets around her and looked in the mirror.

A flash of pink in her eyes. Raven muffled a gasp and got up quickly. _Just a dream, or..? _

Rushing out of the room, she glided rapidly downstairs, through a hall toward another bedroom, Jinx's bedroom, breath caught in her throat. _Is she still here, or did she..? _

She arrived and opened the door quietly, peeking inside. The bed appeared to be empty and from what she could see, there was not a soul in sight. She opened it all the way and stepped inside, noting that it felt unusually cold, unusually empty... _did she really leave me? _

Still not daring to breathe, Raven's eyes scoured the dark room again, though she knew that she wouldn't find anything new, but she looked again anyway, hoping that she had missed seeing the other girl... _empty. _She let out the air in her lungs in a low, defeated breath, and stood still.

Then turned quickly as she sensed someone behind her.

Jinx raised an eyebrow as she saw Raven turn around, then looked slightly worried as she noted the momentary flash of panic in Raven's eyes.

"Something wrong?"

Somehow, the dark sorceress remained calm, keeping her voice steady. "I was looking for you. Where were you?"

"Taking a walk. Why? Did you need me for something?"

Raven took a deep breath. "I thought you were mad at me."

Jinx frowned. "Well, maybe I still am. A little. I mean, do you know how _frustrating _you can be sometimes? Yeah, none of those people died from the storm, but..."

"I'm sorry," Raven said faintly, very softly.

Jinx blinked. _Did she just... apologize? She's never done that before... _"Err... well, I mean it's okay, but maybe you should consider being less, um, irritated by little things in the future? Obviously the Titans weren't going to be like 'oh my God, you are our savior' or anything like that."

"I know. I should not have overreacted."

Jinx looked at Raven curiously. "Are you feeling alright? You're acting strangely. I mean, it's not like you to-"

"I know." _I was... frightened. _Violet eyes met pink ones and there was a momentary understanding before Raven looked away. "I'm keeping you from your rest."

"N-not at all. I mean, I only went out to take a walk. It'd be pretty pathetic if I got tired from just that-"

"You're tired," Raven murmured. "You haven't slept since we came back. And it must have been hard getting through that snowstorm."

"I... guess so. You sure you don't need anything?"

Raven shook her head. Jinx studied her carefully for a moment, still a little worried, but detecting nothing seriously wrong, nodded and moved past her, discarding her clothing and slipping into bed, closing her eyes. And then she turned as she felt another body press up against her own... _Raven's... _she knew - she _had _slept with the other woman many times, after all. But it was strange. Normally Raven's body was cold, very cold, almost like ice, but today, she seemed warm, like any normal human's body should have been. _Weird... _

Jinx turned and felt Raven's breath tickle her collarbone, the sorceress's arms wrapped around her waist. Out of habit, her own hands came down and she touched Raven's chest, moving down to her nether regions, but then she felt the violet haired girl stop her, placing her hand across her own hip, pressing their bodies together closer.

"Not tonight," she breathed out sleepily.

If she thought that anything was off about Raven just wanting to cuddle - _what the hell. There's like a hundred things wrong with it, but hey, I'm not going to argue with that - _she didn't say anything and merely contented herself with letting the other girl's body warm her own, slowly drifting off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.


	6. Raven and Titan

Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine

"Speech"

_Thoughts _

* * *

_Daybreak _

She sensed dawn approach, right at the brink of the shift in light, from the pale colors of the night to the warm carmine of the day, right at the brink when it was dark, when everything still seemed murky and dreamlike, but slowly faded into the glowing daylight. Her senses creeped back upon her, inching into her mind, gradually returning, and she became aware of another body closer to her own.

Jinx shifted a little. The other person's skin was a little cold, and she seemed to feel it too, for she pressed in closer to Jinx's body, like some animal seeking warmth. The smooth muscles shifted, and she felt a leg cross over her own. _Raven... _

She reached a hand down and dragged them gently through Raven's tangled violet locks, feeling the silky hair slip through her fingers. Raven mumbled something under her breath and turned, breathing lightly onto Jinx's bare shoulder. The pinkette blinked, then smiled a little, running a finger down Raven's back. _First time I've ever seen her asleep. It's funny. She looks so vulnerable and harmless right now... _

"Appearances are deceptive," Raven murmured, leaning in a little, trying to steal some of Jinx's warmth.

"You're awake."

Raven nodded, breathing lightly. "Are you getting up?"

"I was going to, but if you want me to stay here-"

"That would be nice."

Jinx blushed, then grinned. _She does like me after all. Maybe she isn't as emotionless as she seems... _She felt a hand press to her lower back and suddenly everything was very warm, drowsiness closing about her. Was that Raven telling her to go back to sleep? Well, she didn't mind. It really was very comfortable, pressed against the other girl's warm body, curled up in a relaxed position... her pink irises disappeared as sleep overtook her, soft sunlight streaming into her room fading back into the obliviousness of dreams, dreams filled with violet eyed ravens flying about in the moonlit sky.

* * *

When she woke up again, Raven was gone and the pale night had returned. Still a little drowsy, she got up and dressed, slipping on a white robe in the dim light from the sliver of silver that was the moon, the slightest line of white in the sky, nearing the pure darkness of the new moon that would arrive in a couple days. Moving silently out of her room, she left the building and went out into the dark night, wondering where Raven had gone.

The snow seemed dark underneath her feet, a blanket of glistening grey; she got the feeling that it matched Raven's mood more so than merely reflected the light cast down upon it. There was something about the tension in the air that gave it away, an impression of the sorceress's... not exactly fear, but worry, perhaps? Raven rarely got worried about anything - that would have been a sign that she cared about anything, which she didn't, usually not. But then again, the mere fact that she had come to merely cuddle and spent the whole night, and then let herself appear so vulnerable... there was something off about her.

_'Course I always thought that that side of her was there... but she usually never shows it. I wonder why she chose now, of all times. _

Tonight there appeared to be no ravens as she entered the woods, a rather odd night, but sometimes they didn't seem to enjoy coming out when there was no moonlight. Something about the pure, raw darkness was disturbing, though Raven seemed to be fine with it.

_Can't say I'm used to it quite yet, though. _Jinx looked around, pink eyes darting back and forth. To her, even as a sorceress whose powers were based on chaos, the sheer darkness always held a little element of fear. It wasn't the type of overwhelming fear that froze one in her tracks, no, it was the type that made one hesitate a little, look twice at something that might have been there, a subconscious fear that was buried in the back of one's mind, but still there.

Not a problem for creatures of darkness, though. Raven practically thrived in it, as Jinx recalled.

_A little too much, maybe. _She frowned. It was odd. Once a month, during the new moon, Raven would usually inexplicably disappear for a couple days. There appeared to be no reason for it, though once when Jinx had caught sight of her deep in the forest, during the new moon, when it was completely dark, there had been something that appeared inhuman about her form. Of course, the darkness hid it well, so it was hard to tell anything, but - _I swore I saw four eyes, not just two. _She shuddered. The thought that Raven was not just human was not something she wanted to contemplate.

She ventured deeper into the forest, deeper than she normally went. There were sections of dense woods in the center that she normally avoided due to the sheer darkness - to reach the hills on the other side, she usually went around the extremely crowded area of forest, simply because they always had this eerie feeling to them. Indeed, as she approached, there was almost a demonic feel to the air.

_But there's nothing here, of course. _She blinked, then breathed out deeply, quelling her fear. _Or is there? _

Normally, the forests were quite peaceful. Tranquil at both night and day, the only things breaking the solitude were various animals, deer, birds, small mammals - and occasionally the ravens, which a normal person might find a bit unsettling, but she had long grown used to them.

Here, though, there was a sense of something else in the air, breaking the solitude, not in the way the animals or the ravens did - no, it felt like some malignant specter stalking around in the gloom, just barely hidden, but ready to strike at any moment. It made her feel like she had to watch her back.

Even physically, the trees in this area were taller and older, perhaps many times older than even Raven was, their black trunks reaching up and spreading out into dense branches, lined with black leaves that did not fall, even during the winter. Their gnarled bark carved out bizarre shapes in the darkness, perturbed images that formed disturbing sights that were not really there.

She couldn't explain why she was here. She hadn't ever come here before because it had seemed so terrifying, and even Raven had told her to stay away from the "Demon's Grove" as she called it. But nonetheless, she was here, the fear in the back of her mind growing ever so slightly as she ventured further in.

It was pitch black - only her glowing pink irises that were wholly abnormal, like those of a cat, gave her any vision at all. She spun around as the wind stirred up, howling above her through the tree branches, creating footstep-like sounds in the leaves on the ground, _very _realistic footstep sounds, that seemed as if they were not just the product of the wind, but something else - _get a hold of yourself. There's nothing here. There's nothing here. There's - _

_"Jinx..." _A soft voice cried out.

The pinkette froze, breath sticking in her throat. _I have to get out of here. _

_"No. Don't go. Don't go... don't go..." _The voice echoed, then multiplied into a chorus of soft, feminine sounds. _"Stay... stay... stay..."_

She closed her eyes, not daring to breathe, not daring to look. But then her eyes flew open as she felt something land on her shoulder, and turned her head very slightly.

A raven... _just a raven... _she almost breathed a sigh of relief, but then her eyes widened as she noted that it had _four eyes, _four glowing crimson eyes that gleamed with a slightly more malicious quality to them than the normal sanguine eyes of the nocturnal ravens.

_"Welcome..." _It opened its beak, the soft noise emitting from it, like the wail of some sort of lost soul. _"Welcome... welcome... welcome..." _

They gathered about her, like a murder of crows, but these were still ravens, she thought, though much more... aggressive, malevolent than usual... it wasn't the soft voices that they spoke in - had she ever even heard them speak before? - rather, it was in their eyes, in their threatening poses, in the fact that their beaks were not really beaks anymore, but had jagged edges to them, like miniature fangs-

They drew yet closer, yet more threatening, sanguine eyes positively glowing with malice. Jagged beaks opening, as if they meant to bite her, grinning savagely, closing in all around her-

Jinx drew back, terrified, then stepped aside as one of the ravens flashed forward, jagged beak aimed to tear through her leg. She resisted the urge to scream and her eyes glowed pink, warningly, tensely, trying to ward them off. The ravens were not impressed in the slightest. Like a pack of demons eyeing their prey, they circled her, wailing mockingly.

_"Will you be our friend?" "Why do you hate us so?" "Do we scare you that much, human?"_

She drew back, tripping in the darkness, landing hard on the leaf covered ground, then gasped as worms began crawling up her arms and legs, slimy, mud covered worms that weren't worms at all, once she saw their red eyes, their _four red eyes, _and gaping jaws, sinking down into her skin, drawing blood - but not normal, human red blood - no, it was black blood, bubbling and thick, like tar, definitely not her own blood at all.

She shook them off and got up quickly, fighting down her panic, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

_"Poor girl. You do not belong here."_

"Let me leave," she whispered. "Please, just let me get out of here-"

_"You were the one who promised to listen to us." "You promised to banish our solitude." "You said you would not forsake us-"_

"You're not the same... you're definitely not the same..." she held her hands to her head, closing her eyes. "You're demons-"

_"And if we are?" "Why does it matter to you?" "What appears to be a monster might be naught but a lost soul."_

"But-"

_"Poor, misguided girl. You know nothing of the truth but you seek to judge." _The ravens' voices were harsh, guttural, but as she listened more closely, there was a darker undertone to them that left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Jinx opened her eyes a sliver, then drew back as she saw the sheer rage emanating from the demon-like birds. Scarlet eyes, blazing as if with fire, burning at her with a fervent heat... she turned pale and nearly collapsed, stepping back again... right into a body, probably someone shorter than her, probably a female, and probably human, though she dared not look. The ravens' eyes narrowed and they dispersed, vanishing into the darkness, as a pair of hands turned her around.

Jinx gasped as she saw four crimson eyes flash at her for a moment, but it must have been her imagination for they were gone in a second, replaced by, _thankfully, _only two violet ones.

"Raven?"

"I told you never to come here," she hissed darkly, with a little more force than she normally spoke with.

There was a furrow to her brows and a tightness around her mouth that gave away her irritation - no, for Raven, that much was pure anger, cold rage, but Raven was always quite dangerous while furious, even if she didn't blow up like most people did.

"S-sorry," she stammered. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." she broke off, shaking, collapsing downward, putting her hands over her face.

Raven blinked, slightly taken aback by the show of intense fear, then started forward and caught the girl before she fell entirely, sinking down to the ground with the pinkette, ignoring the fact that they were both getting very muddy.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked quietly, though she really didn't need to ask at all. Of course, she knew perfectly well what was wrong.

"T-the demons..."

For some reason, Raven seemed to turn pale as well. She turned away, and if one saw her face at that moment, it might have become apparent that the tense lines in her face gave way to a melancholic look, eyelids drooping, mouth curved slightly, sadly, down in a slight frown. But of course, she couldn't show something like that to Jinx.

"They are still the same ravens you saw," Raven said quietly. "Though their true nature becomes more apparent during the new moon." _As does mine. _"What do you think of them?"

"They're terrifying."

Raven paused, biting her lip. "I... see. They are... demons... after all..."

Jinx moved her hands away from her face, fear dying away in the face of the sorceress's odd behavior. "Raven... it's my turn to ask you, I guess. Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. Jinx raised an eyebrow.

"You've seen them like this before, haven't you? Isn't that why this is called the Demon's Grove? Because they're actually demons-"

"No."

"Then why?"

"You don't want to know." Jinx opened her mouth, but Raven cut her off. "And I refuse to tell you. Please, go. I have no wish to be seen right now. Nor do they."

"But-"

Raven's eyes blazed crimson for a moment and Jinx felt the terror overwhelm her again, turning her skin a shade of pure white, eyes glimmering, body tensing up, heart beating rapidly. And then it was gone. Raven turned away.

"Raven-"

_"Go!" _She shouted - no, growled - and though she was turned away, Jinx fancied that her eyes had multiplied into four again.

The pinkette didn't need to be told twice. She hurried away, leaving the darkness behind as she made it back to the colored spires of the cathedral-castle, breathing heavily, not knowing what to think.

* * *

"Sir Richard... you are leaving already?"

The masked knight turned to look at the foreign princess, who was staring at him with rather doleful eyes. He nodded curtly.

"I must. There is... a task that I must attend to, a very important task. Sirs Roy and Garth and Lady Karen have sent me word that someone has reappeared, someone that our green friend has also seemed to have met. I will have to go investigate."

"But, Richard..."

He smiled slightly. "Worry not, Lady Kori. We will send as many men as we can to help your country and a contingent of our best to guard you on your way back."

"Richard, that is not what I worry about. I am not leaving."

He blinked. "You aren't?"

"No. Father ordered me to stay here until it is safe to go back. He believes that these... creatures will not be sated merely by attacking Tamaran."

"So they're coming here too?"

"Perhaps, I do not know for sure."

Richard grimaced, running a hand through his hair. "Sorceresses, creatures that aren't human, and now the threat of invasion. What next?"

"I did not say that the invaders of Tamaran were not human, but..."

"You said that they didn't look human."

Kori nodded, a contemplative look on her face. "Their skin was a color I had never seen before. A pale red, Richard. It was the color of hmmm... blood," she thought for a moment, wondering how to describe them. "They fight like barbarians and disregard all life, even their own. They do not seem to care whether they die in battle, only relishing the fight itself. They seem like demons."

Richard paled, then took a deep breath. "I've heard of legends that speak of a demon lord that managed to make himself a body that resembles that of a mortal being. Apparently he had a child, a powerful child - a half demon daughter. I wonder..."

"But that is merely a legend, is it not?"

"I should hope so. Regardless, after I... deal with this situation, we'll figure out a way to beat these demons," he looked at her reassuringly. "Do not fear, Lady Kori. We would all gladly sacrifice our lives to save your people."

"Oh thank you, Sir Richard, but you must also look after you own people as well. These demons show no mercy. They are evil creatures that must be destroyed before they destroy us."

"Speaking of evil creatures," Richard muttered. "I'm going to destroy one, myself. Hopefully." He looked up at Kori again, smiling a little. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Sirs Roy and Garth can assist you in whatever you might need. Ladies Karen and Terra might also be able to help you. Well, I'll be going then."

"Have a safe journey, friend."

* * *

"You're sure about this, aren't you?" Garfield asked the masked hero, careful to keep his tone light and conversational.

Richard nodded. "Even if she is not the one who killed my parents, we are duty bound as Titans to bring all people tainted with the devil's mark to justice. Even if they have done no harm, remaining within the devil's clutches will do them no good in the end."

"But the church-"

"Is duty bound by the will of God to cleanse these individuals by any means necessary. It may not be pleasant, but they are doing them a service. Medicine is never taken easily, but the soul feels better after the pain has passed."

"You mean after they are dead."

"If that is what it takes, then yes. Tell me, Sir Garfield, have you ever thought of what lies past this life?"

"Me? No, not really. Takes too much thought to think about those things."

"I see. But could you imagine, burning in the most agonizing pain possible in the depths of Hell for all eternity, tormented by Satan and by the absence of God's sheltering light, in terrible agony, misery, forever, without a moment of reprieve... can you imagine that, then tell me that a moment of pain is not worth it to avert such a fate? We only have these peoples' best interests at heart, Sir Garfield."

"If you say so."

"Sir Victor can confirm my words."

"I can," the blue armored knight replied. "And it is not as bad as you may think. There are those who have willingly given themselves to the house of God and were cleansed quickly, without much sacrifice, and were able to live their lives out in the peace of God's great land."

"Well, I mean, it's not like you give them any choice in the matter-" he broke off as Richard looked at him sharply.

"It is not our place to question God, Sir Garfield. That would be blasphemy. As tiny mortals, we know nothing compared to the greatness of the One. We can only do what He tells us to do, and nothing more. For He is perfect and to question His words is to reject perfection."

"Dude, I know that. But God's also forgiving, right? He'll still not condemn you to Hell if you've done good things with sorcery and what not, even if it's supposed to be the devil's taint-"

"There is nothing good that can come of those powers. Learn this well, Sir Garfield. Now lead us on."

"I'm just asking you, are you sure you want to go through with this? Revenge seems like-"

"It is not about revenge, Sir Garfield. We Titans are above such petty motives. This is for her own good as well as laying the spirits of my parents to rest."

The green skinned knight sighed. "Fine. But I can't guarantee that I can lead you through the mists. I just got lucky last time."

"Then may that luck be with us again. Onward!"

* * *

She sensed something different. Of course, she wasn't as good as Raven as sensing things, but spending a few years with the other girl had at least taught her the basics of that skill. Which was exactly why she knew that there was someone, no, not just one, but three people coming through the frozen marshes, wandering through the mists.

_That's weird. Usually it's just one person getting lost, and nobody ever comes here during the winter. That means either it's like a woman and her kids randomly wandering around here, or... _

Jinx frowned, scratching her head. _But who would come here purposefully? Like, nobody even knows about us. At least, I think nobody does... _"Hmm," her voice was a soft hum in the air. "Guess I'll go check it out."

She headed toward the frozen marshes, watching her breath puff out in the dark air. The moonlight was nearly gone, casting a nearly impenetrable shadow over everything, though she could still see fairly well due to her unique eyes - and even if she couldn't, there were many areas of Avalon lit with balls of floating, colored lights of various shades, randomly floating about here and there, gracing the darkness with pockets of pale colors.

As she passed by, they circled around her, like airy, ethereal creatures, dancing in vague patterns across her vision. They followed her for some time, then suddenly all dispersed around her, shining a large area around her in multicolored light, illuminating the small buildings around her and the castle behind her. She frowned as she sensed the three people approach, apparently having made it through the marshes safely. She tensed as she heard their voices.

"... see, told you we'd make it safely."

"Yeah, right. You were the one who had doubts about us getting through in the first place-"

"I did not."

"Yes you did."

"Pff. I clearly remember you saying it was all luck that got you through the first time."

"No, man, it was totally my knightly skills that got me through."

"Quiet, both of you," another voice hissed. "I don't like the feel of this place."

"What's wrong with it? Last time I was here, it seemed pretty nice."

"It's too dark. There's hardly any light here."

"What are you talking about? I can see light ahead."

A slight pause. "Artificial light. What sorcery is this?"

"Um, sorcery so that they can see when it's dark out I guess? Practical stuff, you know-"

"Come now, Sir Garfield. You do not really believe that a sorceress would prefer light to darkness, do you?"

"I suppose not." Which was true, really. It seemed like most sorceresses did perfectly fine in the dark, though that in of itself was not a bad thing. Not that most people understood, of course. Anyone affiliated with darkness was automatically evil, by most standards.

"I see someone. On your guards, you two. We do not know whether or not she will be hostile-"

"Oh, hi!" Garfield glanced at the girl's pixie face and pink hair and remembered who she was. "What's up, Jinx? Haven't seen you in a while-"

Richard slapped his hand to his face as Garfield rushed forward to greet her, though he noted that she didn't seem too happy to see him.

"What are you doing here? And why have you brought... them?"

"Well, uh-"

Jinx rolled her eyes. "I can guess at why they're here. Something about purifying all magic wielders, right?"

Richard walked up to her with Victor following behind. "That's right, girl. You know the law of the land, correct?"

The pinkette smirked, eyes narrowing a little. "I don't. Enlighten me."

The masked hero frowned. "You're lying to me."

"No, not at all. I really don't know the law. Why don't you tell me?"

He scowled, then nodded curtly. "By the decree of the church, and through it, God, all beings that wield unnatural or harmful powers are to be cleansed by the church so that they might not cause harm to the good citizens of our country and so that their souls might be saved from being cast into Hell."

"But I haven't hurt anyone-"

"That matters not. Those are the terms of the church and we obey, for those are the words of God."

"But you said harmful powers-"

"All magic is harmful. There will be no discussion. You shall come with us."

Jinx raised an eyebrow. "But what if I don't have powers?"

Richard sighed, his patience beginning to wear thin. Wait, what patience? "Then you shall be brought to the church on account of living in a place where powerful sorcery does exist. This place used to house many witches and is sure to have some residue of their powers.'

"But I don't want to go."

"It is not your choice."

"What if I refuse."

Richard gritted his teeth and popped his sword out of its sheath slightly, grasping the hilt. "Then we shall take you by force-"

"Whoa, calm down dude," Garfield stepped in front of him. "She's not a witch or anything. She's pretty kind and willing to be helpful-"

"That is not for you to decide, Sir Garfield. The church will determine her fate. Now, step aside."

"But-"

"Step aside, young knight. I merely asked you to lead me here, not to question my every move."

The green knight sighed and stood aside, looking at Jinx sadly. She glared at him, then turned back to Richard, muscles tensing as he drew his sword.

"One last chance. I'd rather not have to fight this, you know."

"Neither would I. Maybe you could just, like, leave and not try to kill me or anything?"

"No."

Jinx sighed. "Oh well. It was worth a shot- hey!" She dodged a sword thrust, finding him practically on top of her already.

She tried to summon up her energy, but his attacks were too quick, forcing her to focus on dodging rather than counter attacking. She feigned an attack, then darted to the side and managed to release a few hexbolts at him, but he dodged them all, throwing his sword at her, then running up as it missed, grazing her with a kick. Jinx moved back as he went to grab his sword and released more pink light at him, but again he was faster and managed to catch up to her, sending a flurry of sword strikes at her again. She kicked at his leg, sending him off balance momentarily, then drew back, escaping with a single gash on her right arm. She bit her lip.

_This guy's ridiculously fast. Gotta slow him down somehow. _

Again, he moved toward her, shifting sideways as she countered with her powers, sweeping up with his sword, and as that missed, kicking at her legs. She predicted the movement and jumped, but then took a punch to the stomach as he dropped his sword and attacked again. She felt pain shoot through her body, but managed to send out another hexbolt, striking him straight in the chest as she flew back, managing to land on her feet. _Lucky. He had to attack too quickly that time, so that punch didn't have too much power behind it. _She clutched her stomach, watching as he frowned, wondering why her attack had seemingly done nothing to him. _  
_

"What did you do?" He muttered. "That was even weaker than a child's blow. Surely you cannot possibly so weak."

"Now you're just being cocky," she snickered, sticking her tongue out at him.

He glowered at her and started forward again, but then stumbled as his chest plate came undone, sending him flying face forward into the ground. She seized the opportunity and attacked as he tried getting up, sending a knee at his face. He blocked her with his hand, feeling pain shoot through his arm, but at least prevented any serious damage from being down. With his other hand, he swept forward with a sword again, forcing her back, then got up, casting aside his chest plate entirely and watching her darkly. _What was that? She didn't even strike me there. That can only mean that her power is not based on pure force... no, this is some sort of trickery. Yes, devils do not always use force. They are masters of deceit as well. _He studied her carefully, waiting for her to attack again. _Perhaps I will have to let her strike me once more. I must figure out what her sorcery does. _

He moved forward again, purposely leaving his right side open as he slashed at her. As he expected, another hexbolt landed on his right leg, but in return, he grazed her left arm with his sword. Jinx winced and drew back, clutching the bleeding wound. Richard watched her carefully again, then took a tentative step forward. As he expected, the leather straps on the back of his shin guard came undone, and he nearly lost his balance at the sudden shift in weight. He looked up as he redid the bonds, thinking carefully.

"Your name is Jinx, correct?"

"... why are you asking me something like that?"

He smirked. "It has something to do with your powers, doesn't it? Your energy bolts have nothing to do with harming your enemies directly. I'm guessing that instead, they 'jinx' whatever they hit, causing bad luck to happen to their targets."

She blinked. "Well aren't you the detective. Yeah, that's what they do. I could even completely screw up your body if I wanted to. But I'm not that mean."

"As I thought," he said softly, ignoring her. "Such powers. A true mark of the devil's influence. Sir Victor, we must subdue her quickly and bring her to a holy place where she may be cleansed. I fear that if we do not hurry, it may be too late."

"Let's try to avoid hurting her too much, though. It will do no good if she is physically wounded to the point of death."

"Yes, of course," Richard muttered quickly. "Though in the end, this is to save her soul, not her body."

Victor nodded and pulled some strange, cannon like weapon off of his back. Richard glanced at him, then attacked the pink haired girl, but his attacks followed a noticeably different pattern than before - more feigned moves, leaving wider gaps of space instead of the close ranged strikes that he had done earlier. And then, as he left a particularly large gap, Victor pressed a button on his cannon, sending out a blast of blue light that slammed into the girl's body, sending her flying back to land in a heap on the ground. She rose slowly, breathing heavily, then stopped as she noticed the sword pointed at her throat. She closed her eyes.

"What... the hell... was that?" She gasped. "And I thought I was supposed to be the sorceress-"

"A machine that Sir Victor built. Not sorcery. Now, do I have to knock you unconscious, or will you come with us?"

Jinx frowned, then kicked Richard's knee before he could react, moving back and dodging another blast of blue light. "Not a chance," she muttered. "I'm not even a threat to you. Why are you so hellbent on getting me purified or whatnot?"

"It's for your own good," Richard hissed. "You may not like it, but in the end you will be grateful."

"Yeah, right-" she broke off as he threw his sword at her again, slicing through her robe, then grabbed both of her wrists and pinned her against the ground.

She kicked upward between his legs and grinned as she produced a rather satisfying grunt from the knight. But then a flash of blue light slammed into her side and she felt pain paralyze her momentarily again, everything disappearing into blank whiteness. Slowly, as her vision returned, she gained a blurred image of a masked knight standing over her.

"Do not worry," he murmured. "This won't hurt at all."

"Wanna bet?" A dark voice growled out of nowhere.

Suddenly darkness engulfed the entire area and threw the two knights back, hammering them into the ground. As it faded, a hooded figure could be spotted bending over the pink haired girl laying on the ground, touching her face gently.

"Jinx," she said quietly.

"Raven, I-"

"Do not speak. Here, I shall take you somewhere safe." Darkness spread again and the pink haired girl disappeared.

Raven turned to look at the two knights, a faint crimson light burning in her eyes. She noted the anger radiating off of the one with the mask, then her brows furrowed as she recognized who he was, her own fury boiling up.

_"You have made a grave error, Titan," _Raven hissed in a very demonic voice. _"Leave, before I make you."_

Garfield's eyes widened. "Holy crap."

Richard grimaced. "I told you. Sorceresses are marked with the devil's taint. This one happens to be particularly evil." His face darkened. "I know from experience."

_"How foolish,"_ Raven growled, eyes glowing yet more sanguine than ever. Her voice, no longer smooth, had an odd tone to it, as if it were many voices speaking at once, in low female tones, though the harsh edge made them sound very non-human, as if she were something else entirely. _"I gave you the opportunity to escape, yet you still wish to fight. Very well."_

"You killed my parents," Richard whispered. "Of course I'd fight."

Raven turned away, melding into the shadows. "I did," she admitted softly. "It was not something I was proud of."

Richard gritted his teeth and drew his sword. "Proud or not, it was something that you did. I saw it with my own eyes-"

"From afar, did you not?"

"I saw you strike them down."

"But you know nothing of the circumstances."

"I can guess. My parents were Titans as well. They probably knew that you were a sorceress and-"

"No, that's not it," Raven whispered. "If that was all, I would have merely ignored them."

"Then what?"

Suddenly the air about the dark sorceress stirred and hundreds of crimson eyes appeared behind her, in groups of two pairs, four to a raven, their dark shapes bristling, merely outlines, merely shadows. One of them flew forward and alighted on her shoulder, and Raven turned, running a finger gently down the raven's back.

"They tried to destroy one of my birds. This very one, in fact. _Unforgivable,_" she muttered, a harsh grating sound to her voice. And then she closed her eyes, sighing. "Though in hindsight, I should have realized that they were incapable of doing so. I overreacted."

Richard looked at the raven, staring into its cerise eyes. It looked back at him, and suddenly he knew that it was aware of him, who he was, of everything that seemed to be going through him, as if it could read his mind. No, he was positive that it was looking into his mind - there was no doubt about that. Shivering, he drew back a little.

"That's not just a bird."

"What gave it away?" Raven snickered slightly. "Of course it's not just a bird."

Richard's brows furrowed. "Another demon."

Raven did not respond. The dark bird on her shoulder spread its wings and flew back into the darkness, and a moment later, all of the crimson eyes disappeared, leaving them alone again. The sorceress's own eyes opened, a strange mix of mauve and claret, her grey skin slightly tinted a light maroon... or was that just his imagination?

Her face seemed smooth, unperturbed, but when he looked into her eyes, there was a storm of movement, a tempest of a myriad of colors flying around everywhere, unbound chaos. Even though her body was melded nearly perfectly into the dim light around them, he fancied that she was tense, though for what reason he knew not.

Abruptly, she spoke again, her voice surprisingly gentle. "You are lucky. Normally at this time of month..." her voice trailed off, her eyes half lidded, mere glimmers of blood-lavender. "Regardless, my... friend..." she hesitated slightly. What was Jinx to her? She shook her head, banishing that thought for the moment. "She would not want me to harm you. So leave, _please,_" the word came out of her a little strained.

"It's going to take more than that, sorceress," Richard muttered. "My parents' deaths shall not go unpunished that easily. Be glad that I am still doing you a favor and trying to redeem your perhaps unredeemable soul."

Raven hissed darkly, crimson flooding over the violet in her eyes. _"Seems like this requires some force, then." _

"Not on my watch," Victor grumbled from beside Richard and let another blast of blue light fly forward.

A pure black void spread out instantly and engulfed it, then sent it back at him, magnified several times in power. In an intense flash of energy, both knights were knocked back, then quickly bound to the ground by tendrils of dark power. Fire erupted around them, scorching them with radiating heat alone, encroaching upon their bodies slowly. They struggled furiously for a few moments, but the darkness binding them did not give way - on the contrary, it pressed into them so tightly that it began to cut into their bodies.

"Wait!" Garfield said suddenly, running forward toward the sorceress. "You're... not going to kill them, are you?"

_"I have every right to,_" she growled. _"And to destroy you where you stand too."_

"But-"

_"Be silent, little green one."_

"But Jinx-"

Raven's eyes suddenly blazed with fire and for a moment, he swore he could see two more eyes open beneath the hood. _"Do not speak of her. Say her name again and I swear, I shall rip your tongue out from your mouth."_

He paled and drew back. "Yes, ma'am. Mistress. Great Goddess-"

_"Enough flattery. Now, take your petty friends and leave before I decide to annihilate you." _

The dark energy and fire disappeared and Richard and Victor got up slowly, feeling their bruised muscles protest. A muscle twitched in Richard's jaw as he caught sight of Raven, or at least her outline, in the dim light of the moon, but realizing that they were completely outmatched, sheathed his sword and sulked away with Garfield and Victor following behind him, both of them looking at Raven rather frightfully, warily, unsure of what exactly she was.

_You don't need to know. None of you do. Not even you, Jinx. Because if you did... _Raven looked about as a flock of dark birds gathered around her, staring at her with their dual pairs of cerise eyes. She returned the look, mouth set in a hard, melancholic line, and underneath the hood, a second pair of eyes opened as well. _We are alone, aren't we? Inevitably, I manage to drive everyone else away. _She sighed. _Even those whom I hold most dear. That is why... I cannot allow myself to feel anything. That way... at least nothing will hurt. _

She drew back into the darkness, ravens following behind her.


	7. Raven and Memory

Disclaimer: TT isn't mine

Slow updates... motivation to write went down the drain... probably why this chapter turned out to be really weird.

"Speech"

_Thoughts/Memories_

* * *

_Here, where no light ever reaches, here, in the amaranthine gloom, my abode, my solitary sanctuary, here, all things converge in this aperture, a single night in each lunar cycle. The moon's rebirth bears memories, buried souls that reveal themselves only when light's masking guise disappears, demons that masquerade as harmless shades, but in truth are harbingers of destruction. Ravens of death. _

_Shadows swirl about, a void bereft of all sensation, numbing dissolution marking its prey as its own... but I am already dead... long dead. Borne away on the wings of time, oblivion had claimed my soul in lives already forgotten. Sundered spirits grace the darkness with shattered crimson, severed claret, crying out mockingly to those who would step into the shadows of their wings, a warning, to turn back, or to forfeit all life, any mortal soul, to be snared by the void itself, never to be retaken. In the heart of the crepuscular black, where no mortal may subsist, I linger, for I no longer have a spirit to lose. All that remains the expiration of my physical form._

Raven's eyes opened, gleaming faintly crimson. Around her, dark birds gathered, each with two pairs of eyes glazed over with cerise. She remained motionless, concealed in a cloak of pure black, darker than even the pitch blackness around her; all that could be seen of her was the very bottom of her face, the blood red lips, and the pale, faintly pink - no, tinted blood, if anything - skin, replacing her usual grey undertones. And those eyes.

_Do I really feel nothing? Or do I merely just say it? _Flashes of burning crimson, then emerald, then amethyst, then azure, then back to pure sanguine. _Just because I have consigned myself to death does not mean I cannot feel. It is merely that I hold no attachment to life. _

_Is that not the same as being dead, then? Without a reason or a will to live, are we not merely wandering shades?_

She closed her eyes. And as the ravens converged, perching on her shoulders, nipping at her cloak of dark energy, her eyes opened again, but this time there were _four _of them, mirroring the birds' own demonic stares. _No... not demonic. Unnatural, but not hellish. Demons, perhaps, but nothing, even a demon, is wholly evil or good. If those can even be defined. We are what we are. There are those who would seek to judge us merely because of what they see. _Her mouth curved downward very slightly. _Everyone, actually. Truly, what mortal in **her **right mind would seek the companionship of a demon? It is because I am selfish that I cannot tell... _she bent her head downward, as if in concession.

_Lost feelings restored. My heart beats again, my body pulses with warmth, but how can I know what to make of it? Such an unnatural feeling, feeling anything at all. Can I say I enjoy it? Or do I prefer the glacial numbness of death? To feel, and suffer, but to relish that pain, or to be an empty husk. Indeed, no longer a being as a part of this plane of existence, but rather transcended already into the realm of spirits. Long I have resided there, but now... _

She clenched her hand into a fist, feeling warmth flood through her fingers. _This body of mine, it feels as if it is there again. No longer a faceless wanderer. I am once again, once again... a person. _Around her, the ravens milled about restlessly. She held a hand to her head, feeling a sudden pain tear through her. Not a sharp pain, not like a knife cutting through her - it pulsed nearly with her heartbeat, just a little off, enough to set everything awry, as if there were two forces in her body fighting for control. She crouched down, teeth gritted together. The darkness drew back from around her, revealing smooth, pale skin, tinted faintly crimson. Her fingers traced up her arms, up the light scars that lined them, each one a memory carved into her flesh. Down her legs - if one looked closely, it became apparent that her youthful body was marred in countless places, as if she had seen eons of battle, a tireless warrior.

_I am not. Not a warrior, nor tireless. _She bit her lip, gritted her teeth together, struggling to control the emotions roiling within her. _I cannot let myself feel anything. I can't... I just can't... It's too dangerous - so why can't I help it? Why can't I repress this warmth flooding through me? Why can I not return to that tepid detachment that had taken me for so long? I don't want to feel anything. I don't-_

She took a deep breath. Around her, the ravens stirred, flying about rapidly, soft voices gracing the void with mournful song but occasionally punctuated by lower, harsher cries, each one striking a pang of pain through her body. She clutched at her chest, feeling a burning sensation within her threatening to tear her asunder. Barely held in check, barely reined in through sheer willpower, threatening to break free, to consume her... she knew at that moment that she had not abandoned all attachment to the world, to life, nor had she abandoned all attachment to other people, to _specific _people...

_I can't let myself... I shouldn't... _

_Keep telling yourself that. You know that you want-_

_I don't know what I want- _Raven's hands moved up to cover her ears, to shut out the voice speaking to her, but as quiet as it was, it seeped through her whole being, utterly implacable.

_What do you desire? You know it well-_

_I cannot fulfill those desires-_

_You can. You just need to allow yourself to-_

_I cannot!_ Raven shook her head violently, eyes blazing. _I have already tried! Every time, there is only death, more death, and an inescapable desolation. Why must I suffer through it again-_

_Suffering is the crux of living-_

Raven felt something blaze through her, some imprisoned force unleashed, and suddenly, she doubled over, emotions whirling through her body. Darkness spread, tempestuous void, thundering about her like some silent storm, rending her body apart. Whirling blades, cutting into her flesh, each slice sending a jolt of pain through her, but somehow a pain that was not felt as pain, but rather an affirmation that her body was still there, that she was still living, not a spirit, not a faded soul. Darkness tore through her endlessly, if not from outside, then from within, then faded and left her crouched over, back, arms, and legs all dripping blood, her face shrouded by a veil of pale violet hair.

She sunk down to the ground, looking down into the inky void. She shuddered, then closed her eyes, merely sensing everything around her. Breathing slowly, the heavy, dense air filling her lungs, a muted feeling taken into her body, dampening her roiling innards... she took another deep breath.

_It's weird... _It was definitely an odd sensation. _They are there. I know they are there. Waiting to be reached, just past my fingertips, yet I cannot feel them. _As if her emotions were consuming her, yet she, herself, could not feel them, as if her mind and her human body were separate things all together. She knew she was feeling something, and yet consciously, she could not feel it.

_Because I cannot let myself feel anything. I'll be damned before I make that mistake again. You'd think people would learn the first time..._

Her breath grew more even, the tension in her muscles loosening a little. She sat up, tracing the cuts on her body, then looked around as the ravens gathered again, gazing at her with stares of dark crimson. She looked back, noting the slight dullness compared to the usual fiery luster, lids slightly drooping, and as they began singing, she thought that they might have been a little sad as well. Just a little. _But in the end, they feel nothing either._

They pressed up against her body, soft feathers soothing her wounded flesh, and slowly the cuts began to fade, leaving another set of faint, fresh scars on her skin. Raven laid back, closing her eyes again, and let everything slip away once more.

_We're alone. We've been alone for a long time, haven't we?_ She sighed. _Perhaps too long._

* * *

_I remember... _

_When I was born, there were still a few of us in Avalon. Even back then, sorceresses were already a dying breed. Because of our unnaturally long lives and especially because most of us were female, there were very few children who were born of our type. Sure, there were normal humans who were born with the spark of magic in them, but most were shunned and feared because they were so different. Naturally, the humans multiplied and the sorceress population began to dwindle as they began to die from old age, or disease, or occasionally, from being hunted as witches._

_Still, we of Avalon, in those days, while not respected by most normal humans, were sometimes sought after for our healing abilities, for which we were well known. Back in those days, the mists were not so thick, and Avalon was not so distant from the realm of humans, so travelling the marshes was much easier. The occasional visitor was actually quite frequent, and as a sign of gratitude, they would often bring us gifts, even though, as healers, we would have helped them for free. Unlike now, where people try to kill you for helping them..._

_But of course, healers are limited in their powers. There are those who would believe that we can do anything, like cure all disease, or provide eternal youth, or raise the dead. All of which is nonsense, but in desperation, some humans called upon us for these purposes. _

_Before I was born, there was a king of a foreign land who had grown old, as all humans do. And of course, as all greedy men are, he sought us out to provide him with immortality. Clearly, it could not be done, but he was a king, and being used to getting whatever he wanted, would not be put off by our protests so easily. _

_In the time before I was born, there was a group of powerful sorceresses that lived in the mountains who studied death extensively, and it was rumored that they had discovered ways to raise the dead and banish mortality - baseless rumors, ones that humans invented for their own amusement, but were believed by some because they were desperate to latch onto that small glimmer of hope._

_This king, obviously, after we declined to help him, went to seek them in hopes of gaining that eternal life which he so desired. It is not clear what happened, but apparently he did find them and performed some sort of ritual that was meant to permanently bind his soul to his body or something dumb like that. _

_Obviously, it didn't work, but what happened next was something nobody would have expected. Apparently, instead of binding his soul to his body, his soul was consumed and instead, the essence of a powerful demon lord entered his physical form instead._

_As one might have expected, he demanded that the sorceresses serve him as loyal slaves, and when they refused, he destroyed them utterly. For a while, he traveled the lands, testing the limits of his power in his new body, and eventually came to hear of the healers of Avalon. _

_At first, when they saw him, there was no trace of anything demonic about him. Certainly, he seemed powerful for a human, but nothing that out of the ordinary. He might have been another sorcerer, which was rare in of itself, but not unheard of. So they did not know and allowed him to stay, and thus allowed him to begin corrupting them. My mother, one of the stronger sorceresses of Avalon at that time, was the one he had set his eyes on, though she never knew why it was her._

_Regardless, as it is, demons have a way of charming those who do not recognize them for who they are, and my mother was no different._

Raven opened her eyes a sliver, no longer seeing the empty darkness around her, but shifting images before her face, blurred over, as if they were not part of her own memories, because they were not, but another's past being shown to her. A woman, with violet hair and soft, feminine features similar to her own, though there was a dark glaze to her eyes, almost like a mask hiding whatever lay beneath.

_Of course I understand that. Sorceresses, who have unnaturally long lives and tend to be alone for long periods of time, often have to throw away their emotions. In utter solitude, our type exists, and though there are some who endure it just fine, there are others who cannot handle it. Being completely and utterly alone... no, that in itself is fine. What is terrifying, the most distressing thing, is when one is shown something she wants more than anything else, when one has that thing dangled before her eyes, then snatched away right before she can reach it._

_For some of us, that is the company of a single other person who understands... a lover of sorts... _Raven shook her head, breathing raggedly. _The companionship of someone who understands and with whom it is possible to share everything with. The other becomes almost an extension of yourself, and you, an extension of her. Undoubtedly, that is what my mother desired most._

_Even as sorceresses, that is a possibility, but because of the humans, and because not all sorceresses are ageless, the rare lover that comes along is almost always lost. And we are left alone again. _

Raven's brows furrowed as the images shifted. The woman, with a smile gracing her lips, a glimmer in her eyes that belied the dark glaze that they had had earlier. And the man... She frowned.

_He must have preyed on that emotion. _She hissed. _In the end, we sorceresses never learn our lesson, do we? No matter what, we can never allow ourselves to fall prey to that desire for the affections of another. Either they disappear, or they turn out to be some traitor who only wishes to use you for your power. No matter what, it never lasts. _

_My mother was no different than I, it seemed. _

Raven closed her eyes as she saw them together, laughing, smiling, embracing each other, as if they really did love one another... and then under the moonlight, when they were away from all the others, deep in the woods alone...

Raven squirmed about uncomfortably._He showed his true form and took her as his own, and she could do not a thing about it. _The images flitted through her eyelids, and despite her best attempts to shut them out, she could not.

The violet haired lady had screamed, raw fear etched plainly on her face, and she had cried, pleaded with him to stop, begged, all to no avail. And when it was done, she had turned toward him, eyes blazing, swearing that he would never leave alive.

_A demon would take that as a threat. _Raven tried to force her eyes open as the memories began flowing again, but found that her eyelids were glued tightly shut. She gritted her teeth.

_A demon would take that as a threat... _It was odd. He had looked a little disappointed when she uttered those words, but as she screamed at him again, even through the memory, Raven could feel the sheer fury over take the demon lord.

Four eyes blazing, he had turned toward her, burning with the intent to kill, but then thought better of it and turned back toward the rest of Avalon, where the other sorceresses were.

_Arella, _his voice was a low, dangerous rasp. He opened his mouth to say more, then closed it, grinding his teeth together. _This will teach you not to cross me, _he hissed, and then walked off. She had screamed again, this time to tell him to stop, but he was already gone. A moment later, Avalon erupted in fire, and in the distance, plumes of smoke began rising into the sky, ashes scattering in the wind.

* * *

Raven sat up, sweating, breathing rapidly. _He killed them all except for her. _She rubbed her eyes, fighting down everything rising inside her. And then slammed a fist into the ground. _Damn it. Like mother, like daughter. Remember to never let yourself feel anything. It only brings pain, pain, and more pain... _

She took a long, deep breath, and looked around. Her mouth curved downward.

_Avalon... _It had been restored, but as she wandered around, she remembered how empty the place actually was. Not a single soul in sight, the buildings standing deserted amidst the tall grasses, overrun by plants, looking as if they were part of the small hills rising gently out of the ground. She reached out, trying to touch them, but found that her hand passed right through, slightly translucent in the soft, misted light. She turned.

_Of course. This is merely a memory... _

Flying high into the sky, she looked across the landscape beneath her, taking in the gorgeous, glowing view of the greenery, the colored spires of the rebuilt cathedral on Avalon, the warmly colored light radiating through the forests, flush with glorious color as it reflected off of the hills...

She caught sight of two figures sitting on one of the hills, paused for a few moments, thinking deeply, a dark look on her face, then moved toward them, feeling an odd sense of dread in her heart.

Of course, she knew who they were without having to look, but there was no harm in confirming it, was there?

Anger radiated off of one of them, an irritation that was merely supposed to be frustration, or annoyance, not the deep felt rage that she was sensing from... herself. Raven closed her eyes.

_"Raven, you musn't be so angry at every little thing. A healer must be calm and smooth, like the water-"_

Without having to open her eyes, she knew that her younger self was scowling. "_Mother," her voice was surprisingly harsh._ "_You drag me up early in the morning to take a walk, then force me to come up here with you, with the annoying sun __beating down on me and these stupid bugs biting me, and you expect me to stay calm."_

_"Raven," Arella sighed. "Please, you cannot always stay this way. If you get angry at every little thing, you will only end up losing your temper completely one day and destroying everything around you-"_

_"So?"_

_Arella shook her head and stood. "I should have expected no less," she murmured very quietly, but Raven's keen hearing caught her words. "It is in her nature to be angry and destructive. After all, she is the spawn of a d-" The violet haired woman caught herself and looked at her daughter, who wore a puzzled frown on her face._

_"I'm a what?"_

_"Nothing. Come, let's go back inside."_

_"Wait, you were about to say something-"_

_"Raven," Arella said a little more forcefully, but then the look on her face softened. "I do not want to force you to do anything you do not want to. Come-"_

_"But you were about to say something-"_

_Arella rubbed her temples. "I shall tell you some other time. You are not ready."_

_Raven scowled again and folded her arms across her chest. "I know you think I am ignorant, mother. But I'm not as stupid as you think I am."_

_"I do not think you are stupid at all, Raven. But you must trust my judgment."_

_"Why?"_

_"One day, you will know." _

Raven opened her eyes as the scene faded and the two figures disappeared. She shook her head. _Forgot how stubborn I was when I was younger. _She looked at her hands, an odd look on her face. _Still probably am. If I was a little less mule-headed... _

She blinked as Avalon appeared around her again. This time, she was in the center of the grasslands, with all of the buildings around her, though now they were cleaned up a little, apparently in use. Indeed, as she floated about, she saw other sorceresses walking around; even if there were still startlingly few of them, it was a welcome sight.

Well, it _was _a welcome sight. Raven frowned as she heard a very irritated voice come from within one of the buildings, then another one reply, a softer one, but much colder, frozen anger, clearly furious, but not explosively so. Her own voice.

_"... I do not care who you are, Elizabeth. You could be the daughter of God for all I care. But you will not cross me-"_

_"You're always like this, Raven. But you know, you're not a princess either. You don't always get what you want."_

Raven floated toward the building and peeked inside. Her younger self's face was covered, but there was a dark crimson light about her that seemed very unnatural, very... demonic.

_"Touch my mirror again, and there **will** be trouble."_

_The other girl, a tall girl, with fair hair and a pale face - most people would have considered her beautiful - turned a pair of clear blue eyes toward the mirror sitting on the table nearby._

_"What's the big deal anyway? It's just a mirror. Even you... even you, Raven, must care a little bit about beauty sometimes," her voice suddenly grew husky and not a little mocking._

_Raven's eyes narrowed. "Entering my room was bad enough. Stealing my mirror was completely unacceptable. And now, you dare to taunt me as well? Do you have a death wish?"_

_The other girl laughed. "Is that a threat?"_

_Raven growled darkly. "You try my patience-"_

_"What patience? You never had any."_

_The violet haired girl tensed, and beneath her hood, another pair of eyes opened, though they were merely faint glimmers beneath the brightly glowing pair above them. When she spoke again, her voice was an odd mix of several voices, all speaking at the same time. "Do you really think I will hesitate to kill you?"_

_"You couldn't, even if you tried. Don't think I don't know, sweet Raven. You're not as strong as you act. Deep down, you know it too. It's all just an act, intended to get us to fear you, and respect you, but it's only made you look like an arrogant fool. All that mystery - it's all meaningless."_

_Raven leaned forward. "You're wrong," her voice was a sadistic hiss. "Perhaps I should show you how strong I really am."_

_Elizabeth snorted. "Now don't go all four-eyed on me again, princess. We all know you're not human. Just slither back to the pit you came from, demon spawn."_

_"If you're so intent on getting rid of me-"_

_"I would. But you know, the only reason any of us tolerate you is because of your mother. If not for her," she smirked. "Poof, you'd be gone."_

_Raven growled and flashed forward - in a furious thrust, she slammed the other girl through the wall of the building, sending her flying back to land in a heap on the ground. Rushing forward again, she held up the girl by the throat and threw her back, toward the lake shore, gliding forward, eyes glimmering darkly. Elizabeth coughed out a mouthful of blood and glared at Raven, eyes narrowing with rage. _

_"You think you'll get away with this?"_

_"Nobody here to save you," Raven murmured, teeth showing as sharpened fangs as she spoke. "Now, I can be rid of an annoying pest."_

_"In your dreams." _

_The fair haired girl stood and raised her arms, sending out a wave of fire, but it was instantly consumed as Raven burst through it, darkness shrouding her body._

_"Fool." She sent a knee upward and there was a nasty cracking sound as several of the other girl's ribs broke. She let Elizabeth drop to the ground, then knelt down, staring into her face. "There are two types of people in this world," Raven purred, relishing the power flowing through her body. "Those who are fools and know they are fools, and those who are fools but don't know that they are. Which do you think you are?"_

_"Neither."  
_

_Raven smirked. "Wrong answer." _

_Darkness spread, hammering into the other girl's body, then pushed her into the lake, where a faint, bloody stream of red floated up into a pool of crimson on the water's surface. _

Raven turned away, closing her eyes. The images faded again. She sighed, sitting down and putting her head between her knees, trying to force the memories back. _Why? Why are you showing me this? I am no longer the person I once was-__  
_

_Am I even a person? Or am I really just a demon? _She shook her head, fighting down the sanguine flowing through her. _I don't want to be a demon. I don't want to be angry... I don't want to solely be a force of destruction. But these humans... sometimes they don't deserve saving. Ugh. Why can't I just detach myself from everything? I don't want to hurt anything but I don't want to be hated for trying to help... I just want to be left alone. _

Raven's hands clenched tightly, white knuckled fists pressed to her shins. _Sometimes, I can't help but get angry. People are just so infuriating. Sometimes, I can't help but want to destroy them. Look at what they've done to us. Without a second thought, they would destroy all that they deem to be sorceresses, no matter how we try to help them. Without a second thought, they'd take away everything I care about, destroy us utterly, torture us to the point of insanity, and only then, grant the peaceful numbness of death. They'd kill her..._

Raven's eyes blazed red. _I'll be damned before I let that happen._

_"You are a demon."_

_Raven looked at her hands, a melancholic expression overtaking her face. "I suspected as much. They kept calling me that-"_

_"It was true. I think they might have known."_

_Raven looked up. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? At least I would've known."_

_"I didn't think you'd be able to handle it. Your temper-"_

_"Is still bad."  
_

_"Not as bad as it used to be." Arella sighed. "All I want is for you to be happy, daughter."  
_

_"Never going to happen."_

_"Why not?"_

_"What is there to be happy about? Shunned by everyone. The only people I've ever cared about have died... besides you, mother," she added hastily._

_Arella turned. "I know that you do not care about me. Our relationship is not... normal."_

_"I wish I had never been born," Raven said softly. "Or that my life could just end."_

_"I wish that you had not been born either. The circumstances were..."_

_"Unpleasant, I can imagine. I don't think you would have willingly given yourself over to a demon."_

_"Demons are not all bad."_

_Raven looked away. "I find that hard to believe. Sometimes, I think that I am just an incarnation of evil-"_

_"And that is why you must always fight it. But remember, nothing in this world is wholly evil or wholly good. There is always another face to everything."_

_"It depends on whether or not we see the masks that hide that face," Raven muttered. "And nobody bothers to see past the mask of sorceress or demon, so we always get labeled as evil."_

_"That cannot be helped. All we can do is help where we can, and if it is refused, leave peacefully."_

_"That seems really unfair."_

_"You know what they say. Life isn't fair."_

_"Then maybe we shouldn't continue living if it sucks so much."_

_"Raven," Arella said sharply._

_"Mother," Raven replied tonelessly._

_"Please don't give up just yet."_

_The violet haired girl shook her head. "You don't understand. Sometimes, I just want to die so badly-"_

_"Raven..."_

_"It can't be helped. I'll try not to make a mess if it happens."_

_Arella turned to her, eyes dark with sorrow. "Please don't. As much as you think nobody cares about you, I am still your mother. I-"_

_"Don't bother caring about a demon like me," Raven muttered. "Not worth your time. Now, if you'll excuse me..."_

Raven looked down at her wrists, at the more pronounced scars that ran along each of them. For a while, she had really just wanted to die and have everything be over with, but after that, she had stopped caring about even living or dying, which was the only thing that had really prevented her from killing herself. But the marks were still there._  
_

_Sometimes, I still wonder if it would have been better if I was just gone._ She took a deep breath. _I__ suppose it wouldn't have mattered though. In the end, I am insignificant. Aren't we all..._

_"Is that really what you think?"_

_Raven nodded. "It's the truth, isn't it?"_

_The old man stared at her for a few minutes, his eyes tinted an odd crimson color. "You are more important than you know," he said quietly. "A sorceress or a demon, you are shunned by all ordinary humans, but it is not they who you need to concern yourself with."_

_Raven's eyes narrowed. "How do you know about that?"_

_"About what?"_

_"Your statement... it wasn't hypothetical."_

_"When we meet again, maybe you will find out what I mean."_

Raven looked up as images began forming around her again.

_There was a disturbing feeling to the air. It didn't hold the normal calm placidity that Avalon usually had; today, there was a burning sensation, almost... rousing. But terrifying as well. Both of them apparently noticed it. Arella seemed very tense, not the sort of tension that accompanied an unknown fear, but rather an expectation of something she knew was going to happen, something which she knew about. There was a hard set to her face, faint anger, faint worry, her eyes the eyes of a woman staring at death itself._

_Her younger self, however, seemed excited. Too excited. The tension in her body was neither of fear nor worry, but of barely repressed anticipation... though that excitement itself seemed to manifest itself as fear within her. Terrified because she was thrilled by the feelings surging through her. She clutched at her chest, eyes slightly glazed over, overtaken by the heat pulsing at her core. But something seemed a little wrong about it. A tiny voice telling her to fight it, and so she did, though there didn't seem to be any reason why._

_Ecstasy. _

_The word rang through the air, but it seemed a bit odd. Perturbed ecstasy. Raven hissed, pacing around restlessly. Darkness throbbed around her with the flow of her breath, resonating with the unknown force in the air, sending her powers into a frenzied state of excitement. She took several deep breaths, then rushed out of the room, outside, to where Arella was staring up at the darkened sky, up at the eclipsed sun, whose rays were now blotted out by a dark shape in front of it._

_"Mother," she gasped out._

_"Raven," Arella turned, looking slightly concerned as she noted the emotions written on her daughter's face. "You must be feeling it too."_

_"What's causing it?"_

_"Your father is coming," she replied darkly. "I imagine for you."_

_Raven paled. "He's a demon, right?"_

_"A demon lord, to be exact," Arella murmured. "And a powerful one at that."_

_"... can we stop him?"_

_"Probably not. Listen, Raven. I can imprison him for a certain period of time, but it will cost me my life-"_

_"Mother!"_

_"Raven, don't argue with me. I have lived long enough as it is. I don't mind letting go of life now in order to preserve yours. You still have much to do-"_

_"Mother, I'm the one who's supposed to-"_

_"Hush. He's coming. We have no time to argue."  
_

_"That just sounds like an excuse-"_

_"Raven," Arella said sternly. "Let me do what I must. You must live, and I will sacrifice myself to protect you, if I have to."_

_"But-"_

_Suddenly, a shadow descended upon them, the air around them growing denser until it did not feel like air at all, but water instead, a suffocating sensation, like they were drowning..._

_"Arella. I have come to take what is mine."_

_The violet haired woman shuddered as the demon materialized behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. A massive figure, perhaps a couple feet taller than her, he radiated pure power and raw destruction, a dangerous look to the four eyes gleaming on his face. _

_"Ah yes, you have named her Raven. A fitting name."_

_"She's not yours."_

_A low, deep chuckle. "Not yet. I am fairly certain you have poisoned her mind against me. But it seems that you have not done your job quite as well as you should have. My aura still excites her."_

_"And scares her. Leave us alone. We want nothing to do with you."_

_"I wonder if that really is true. You used to love me-"_

_"That was only a trick. An illusion," Arella's voice shook slightly. "All that stuff about understanding how it feels to be shunned, how it feels to be alone for eons, losing everything you ever cared about..."_

_"And you imagined, once I revealed my true form to you, that I did not understand that. But remember, I never changed my convictions-"_

_"You never bothered to correct me either. Instead, you just took advantage of me, then killed all of them, all of my friends, the only people I had to accompany me in solitude-"_

_His eyes narrowed. "You tested the ire of a demon, and were burned because of it. Is that so surprising? Perhaps if you had not overreacted to begin with-"_

_"Enough, Trigon! Leave, or-"_

_"Or what? You'll make me? We don't even know what our dear daughter has to say about this yet."_

_Raven's eyes were wide as Trigon approached her slowly, as if she were some animal that he did not want to scare off. _

_"Be calm," he muttered. "I will not hurt you."_

_She drew back a little, but he encircled her wrist with his hand anyway, pressing lightly into the soft flesh. A storm of colors suddenly tore through her, nothing coherent, just a few flitting images in a sheer mass of emotions. Solitude, grey, rage, crimson, despair, black, there was an awful sense of being shunned which she understood all too well, without even being given a chance to be accepted, because of what she - they - were, something not altogether human. Being hunted, either as a way to gain power, or as something terrifying to be eliminated, and then a terrible sense of bitterness because they destroyed everything that mattered, everyone that mattered, leaving nothing but desolation once again. Fury, because just because everyone else did not understand, they sought to eliminate them-_

_Nothing coherent at all. Just a sense of being alienated, purely bitter, the years of solitude giving birth to an unquenchable rage and a obsession with power, to make everything else suffer because they had made him suffer..._

_Rage tore through her body and her face contorted. And then a searing, blistering pain, and she drew back, as if burned, clutching her wrist, feeling a burning sensation in her eyes. Raven sank down to the ground, barely holding herself up on her forearms, sheer agony wracking her body. Underneath the curtain of her hair, four eyes opened, replacing her normal pair of violet ones. She gave off a soft cry as Trigon moved forward again, but Arella stepped in front of her, blocking his path._

_"Touch her again and I will kill you."_

_"I doubt you have the power to do that, my dear. Now, step aside."_

_"Make me."_

_Trigon's eyes blazed with dark flame. "Do not test my patience, woman."_

_Arella's brows furrowed and she set her mouth in a stubborn line. "She is my daughter as well."_

_"Get out of the way."_

_"No."_

_One arm rose and he struck her heavily across the face. She stumbled slightly, but regained her footing and stared at him angrily, spitefully, refusing to move. With a cry of rage, Trigon raised his hands and sent forth a large blast of pure darkness, hammering into her body, tearing through flesh and bone. Blood seeped out of the sorceress's mouth, but she held firm and summoned up her own powers, creating a link between her own body and the demon's own. _

_"Mother!" Raven whispered harshly, pain etched clearly on her face. "What are you-"_

_"Protecting you."_

_"Wait- No!"_

_Suddenly, violet penetrated the darkness surrounding them and Trigon was thrown back by some invisible force, his dark form seeming to lose its humanoid shape._

_"What have you done-" "Arella!" They both shouted simultaneously, but the violet haired woman was already gone, her body dissipated into pure energy. _

_Around the demon lord, the mauve light continued condensing, seemingly tearing apart his physical form. "No!" Raven let out another cry and crawled forward, ignoring the spams of pain paralyzing her. "Arella... Arella, Arella-"_

_The violaceous light condensed further and Trigon's frustrated growls could be heard, though they grew more faint as his body was consumed. _

_"Goodbye, Raven-" Arella's voice sounded softly one more time, a wisp of wind in the dark void around her. "Be safe-"_

_And suddenly, everything exploded in crimson light. A tempest of indiscernible emotion tore through her again-_

Raven's brows furrowed and she cut off the images flowing into her mind, covering her face with her hands. She felt her heart pounding against her ribs, throbbing in her ears, her rapid pulse driving the boiling emotions through her body. She took a long, deep breath again, and-

"Raven? Are you okay?"

Around her, the flock of ravens suddenly looked up, eyes flying wide with perturbation. Crimson blazed furiously and their soft voices quickly shifted to harsh, grating cries.

_"I thought I told you to stay away from here!" _Raven's voice was a dark rasp. _"Get out! Get away from me!"_

"But-" Jinx's eyes flew wide as Raven advanced toward her, the four sanguine eyes filled with fury. "S-sorry," she whispered, terror overtaking her face. "Sorry, sorry, I'll leave, I'll leave..." her voice died away and she turned, running away, fleeing as if death itself were snapping at her heels.

The violet haired girl buried her face in her hands again and curled up against the dank ground, hearing nothing but the sound of the blood rushing through her body and the dark cries of the ravens around her.


	8. Raven and Sundering

Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine

"Speech"

_Thoughts/"Demon Speech"_

* * *

_New Moon _

The darkest and longest night of the year, the air impossibly heavy, inky black, as a shroud cast over everything, weighing down with some demonic power, death itself nipping at the heels of the living. The darkness was nigh opaque, and even the colored lights from the glowing bugs glimmering around Avalon barely penetrated the black veil. It was on this night, and this night alone that it became most apparent that Avalon was not part of the normal mortal world; it was something else entirely. Maybe even hellish, though that was rather opposite to what it normally seemed to be, but certainly a little more... perturbed than it should have been for just a dark night. Definitely more eerie. _Something's off. _

_It's normally like this. _Jinx frowned. _Okay, not this bad. Something's really off. _She shivered. _The atmosphere's often a reflection of what Raven's feeling. So I wonder... __I mean, sometimes I wonder if she's even human. Or something else... _It _was _a possibility. The thought had crossed her mind that Raven might have been... a demon... at least in part. Or if not a demon, then something dark, not necessarily evil - evil was hard to define anyway - but very dark. Which maybe was sometimes reflected in the atmosphere. _Like now. _

She closed her eyes. _Raven doesn't hate me. Does she? _

_There's no way she'd hate me. She's the one who took me in when I had nowhere else to go. And I mean, she always worries about my safety, and she always tries to protect me - I mean, yeah, she doesn't show it much, but still._

And then her expression went blank. _Though yesterday... _she drew a deep, shuddering breath. _She almost seemed like she was going to kill me. I've never seen her like that before. Raven... _She pursed her lips together. _You worry me so much. And scare me so much. _She clutched her chest. _How am I supposed to feel about you? How do I feel about you? Ugh. I know I shouldn't judge, but it's just... why does she have to be so moody all the time? I just wish that... _

Jinx sighed, looking out of the window at the darkness. _If only you would try to let me understand you. _She stared for a long while, out into the endless depths of the void, hardly daring to breathe, feeling the atmosphere press down on her, oppressive, hostile. And markedly of Raven. The feeling was so distinctly of Raven, yet one that she had never felt before, never so utterly... demonic. _Okay, maybe it's not that bad. But it's just weird. Takes some time to get used to. _Jinx looked outside again, and suddenly there was an enormous surge of energy, completely overwhelming all of her senses with its sheer potency. An invading force, she tried to fight it off, but her vain resilience was like a paper wall against an ocean. She squeezed her eyes shut, gasping for air. _Maybe I was wrong... _

The feeling faded slowly, leaving behind a terrible sense of dread in her. She rose, shivering, and out of the corner of her eye, saw red. _No, orange? _There was an odd glow in the darkness - she could not tell exactly what it was - but it flickered back and forth, like some devilish creature dancing in the shadows. And then it grew larger, closer perhaps, multiplying, casting the shadows of roughly human-like figures on the ground. _Lights from torches. Who would they be? _

She moved over to the door and opened it a sliver, peeking outside. As the people drew closer, it became apparent that they were knights, and as they came ever closer, she could make out three of them leading the rest of them - one who didn't wear a helmet but a mask instead, a large one in blue armor, and a rather small one following him. If she remembered correctly... _The Titans. _Her eyes narrowed. Following the three of them, there were many other knights, all in ranks, probably a block of about hundred of them from what she could see. _And friends. This could be trouble... _

She gasped as the masked one approached, looking suspiciously at the door that seemed ever so slightly ajar. She ducked back into the shadows, making sure none of the light from the torches could reach her and waited for him to leave. Which, unfortunately, was the last thing on his mind.

"I know you're in here, witch! Show yourself!"

Jinx remained silent, holding her breath. After another few moments, the masked hero gave off a noise of frustration and banged on the door. "Get out here! You have eluded judgment long enough!"

Another few moments of silence. Gritting his teeth, the masked knight thrust the door open and the light from his torch revealed the rather shaken, disheveled pink-haired girl crouched in the corner, staring at him with wide eyes. Beneath the mask, his eyes hardened.

"You again."

"Richard-"

"Silence, Sir Garfield. And do not worry. I shall not harm her, unless she should choose to resist-"

"Nobody would go with you willingly," Jinx muttered.

Richard's eyes flashed dangerously. "My patience-"

"Does not exist," Jinx replied quickly, getting up and facing him, forcing a smirk onto her face, despite the fear burning at her heart.

He drew his sword. "Very well. Looks like we do things the hard way. I should have thought that you would have learned your lesson the last time-" Richard broke off as Jinx darted forward, delivering a swift kick to the shin before backing away.

Ired, he raised his sword to strike, but as he did so, darkness enveloped it and tore it from his grasp, casting it aside. From behind Jinx, another figure appeared, one that seemed to be physically smaller than the pinkette, but with a terrifying aura about her.

"Raven-"

"Get out of my house," the sorceress growled, eyes glowing a dangerous shade of crimson beneath her hood.

The masked hero scowled, retrieving his sword and eyeing her warily. She seemed... different. Yes, that was very apparent. But what was the difference... he backed away a little, perturbed by the bloodlust in her eyes. Yes, that was it. Before, she was calm, coldly stubborn. Now, that had shifted to a sense of utter destruction, burning hot anger. And the fact that they were in her home, her domain, where there were so many unknown factors, was not helping.

"Let's talk about this outside," he murmured, and to his surprise, both sorceresses followed him without argument as they moved toward the marshes.

Outside, even the light of the torches was greatly dimmed. The knights shifted about uncomfortably and many of the cast suspicious glances at the hooded figure following Richard, sensing that she was vaguely connected to the demonic feeling about them. And when they stopped, it only became more apparent how many of them looked at her with distaste, as if she were subhuman, something to be reviled, purged. Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Leave."

"Not until I get what I came for. And this time-"

_"You think numbers matter?"_

Richard drew back, surprised at the animalistic growl that came over her voice.

"Demon," he muttered, though his voice shook slightly - Raven could practically taste the fear radiating off of him.

Beneath her hood, two eyes split into four, though it was hard to tell in the dim light. She turned, not wanting to show them - _no, actually I don't care about them - _not wanting to show _Jinx _her face, and withdrew into the shadows, a mere outline in the darkness.

"Not denying it?"

"I am what I am," she murmured, softly, though still with a harsh edge to her voice.

Behind her, Jinx paled. "Raven," she whispered.

The sorceress did not respond. Richard snorted. "A masterful deceiver. You even manipulate other sorceresses to your own will. Truly the queen of scum."

Jinx glared at him, then turned back to the hooded girl. "Raven-"

"We'll talk about it later."

"But-"

"Look around. I don't think this is the time for us to be having a heart to heart conversation."

"Raven-"

_"Not now," _she hissed, turning around again, this time the four eyes very apparent as they glowed in the darkness.

Both Garfield and Victor gasped, and Richard merely had a smug "I told you so" expression on his face. Jinx grew even paler and moved behind the other sorceress, struggling to keep her face calm, as if she had known Raven was part demon all along. But her hands shook as she clutched at Raven's cloak, terror rising off of her in waves.

"One last warning. Leave."

"Not a chance. Not now that we have a real demon right before us. The chance of a lifetime - to take down one of the devil's own servants..."

_"Try me," _Raven snarled, revealing her pointed teeth and slightly reddish skin.

"Knights!" Richard responded, and there was a loud clamor as dozens of swords were unsheathed. He looked at her, lips curved very slightly. "No mercy this time, demoness. Not now, since you are not even human."

_"Come then! Fight me! We shall see if your pitiful mortal blades can even scratch my skin!"_

Richard drew his own sword and tensing, jumped forward, slashing at Raven's midsection. Darkness engulfed her and blocked the blow, then thrust him back, tearing through armor, flesh, and nearly bone in a single stroke. Richard sat up and gritted his teeth, clutching his ribs, feeling pain shoot through his body.

"Titans, go!"

With a cry, the other knights rushed forward, brandishing their swords, and even as several of them were thrown back by tendrils of crepuscule, the others charged forward fearlessly, bearing down on their foe. Raven's eyes narrowed and she surrounded herself with a barrier of energy, blocking the blows raining down on her, then expanded her barrier, forcing them back.

_"One against a hundred. Hardly fair play, knight."_

"Anything to take you down," Richard hissed back, forcing himself to his feet, pain still etched on his face. "And I highly doubt you would fight fairly, demoness. All you know are lies and deceit."

Raven closed her eyes, focusing inward._ "How wrong... how foolish. The fool who does not know he is a fool is the biggest idiot of all."_

Richard's eyes narrowed and he attacked again, sidestepping a tendril of darkness and slashing at her neck, but she caught his blade with a bare hand - no, claw - and wrenched the sword from his grasp. Another swift movement and she grabbed both of his wrists, paralyzing his body. A moment later, the ground around her began trembling and cracks appeared in the frozen soil.

_"Sunder..."_

Fire burst from the ground, searing the air with tremendous heat. Richard gritted his teeth, trying to bear the pain that surged through him as the sorceress's claws clenched around his arms. Glancing around, he saw the fire take shape, roughly human in figure, slowly materializing into what seemed to be clones of the demoness herself. Behind him, the other knights began rushing forward again, but more fire surged upward, blocking their paths before disappearing, the ground sealing itself up again.

And then she released him, staggering backward, retreating into the darkness. He reached for his sword, but another claw grabbed at his arm, wrenching it backward, forcing him to face its owner. He gasped - a perfect clone of her, wearing a crimson colored cloak, grinning almost wickedly as she kept bending his arm back.

"Richard!" A flash of blue light forced the Raven-clone to move aside and release him.

The other knights moved forward to guard their fallen leader, dragging him back to safety before looking at the crimson cloaked sorceress before them.

It was still for several moments, nobody sure what to make of the situation. The air was tense, almost crackling with destruction, raw power, and even if the fire was gone, there was still a scorching heat that made the darkness seem like it was burning. Then, several more Raven-clones appeared from the darkness, all wearing cloaks tinted different hues of red, all looking darkly at the knights, emanating auras of rage, fury, anger, power...

_"A little more fair, don't you think?" _Raven's voice came out of the darkness, and a moment later, her body followed.

She turned to glance at the pink haired girl beside her, noting the fear on her face, then closed her eyes, turning away. Jinx opened her mouth, but found that no words would come out. She bit her lip in frustration and moved forward, but fire blocked her path, warning her to stay back, she knew, and so she sat, looking miserably onward as the Raven-clones advanced toward the knights.

"What new sorcery is this..."

_"It's called letting loose. Restraining one's emotions for so long does have certain repercussions." _

Suddenly, fire materialized from the darkness, burning everywhere, scorching everything, and cries of pain emerged from the inferno of heat as flame began burning through armor. Richard's eyes widened and he thrust forward, but one of the clones blocked his path, grabbing his sword with her claws and holding him in place. Behind him, the fire lessened slightly.

With a mighty surge of strength, he spun around and landed a kick on the clone's abdomen, sending her back, then wrenched his sword from her grasp, throwing it at her like a javelin. Instantly, the fire behind him disappeared and focused on the trajectory of his blade, flaring up and incinerating the sword completely. Several other knights joined him momentarily and they charged forward, seizing the opportunity as the sorceress seemed vulnerable. The clones drew back into the darkness, fading away, then reappeared behind them, fire lancing out from their hands... and leaving Raven completely open. Richard rushed forward and kicked at Raven's feet, only managing to graze a shin, then sent an elbow at her chin, but met only thin air.

And then fire burst out again, scorching through armor and flesh alike, felling the knights one by one before they could even reach her. Richard tensed and attacked again, hoping to break her concentration, hoping that that would stop the fire from destroying all of them. But she was surprisingly fast for a someone untrained in hand to hand combat and he found that he could not even touch her. Brows furrowing, he turned his attention to the other sorceress, shifting slightly as if he were going to move toward her instead, and then instantly the fire faded. An elbow made contact with his shoulder and he winced as pain shot through his arm, but he managed to counter through pure reflex, pushing her back into the darkness where she did not reappear. He heaved a sigh of relief and looked back, worry coming over his face as he noticed that only Victor and Garfield were getting up.

"No..." he whispered, rushing back, but was forced to move aside as light burst from beside him.

He looked back at the clones, who were glaring at him with such intensity that he thought they might have been trying to destroy him with sheer hatred. His gaze shifted and he noted that the sorceress herself was clutching her head, seemingly in pain, her face an empty void beneath her hood. His brows furrowed.

"Give it up. Looks like whatever you did is hurting you too-"

Raven snarled, letting out another blast of fire, but Richard dodged aside. As the fire ended, Victor retaliated from behind him, charging up his cannon and firing it straight at the sorceress. Darkness blocked it, then tore forward and pinned the knight to the ground, squeezing him tightly until his bones were at their breaking point.

_"Try me, knight. Nothing you do can harm me." _

Richard gritted his teeth, then turned, looking at the pink haired girl off to one corner, looking at Raven with wide, frightful eyes. "Maybe I can't hurt you. But I know I can-"

Suddenly tendrils of flame erupted from beneath him and encircled his body, holding him in place, scorching the flesh where the flame touched. His eyes rolled back in his head as heat swept through him in waves, though through sheer force of will, he still kept silent.

_"You think I would hesitate to kill you?"_

"Wait!" The smallish knight - the only one left standing, the only one who didn't seem to have any ill will toward her - ran forward. "Please. We'll leave now. Please, just let us go. We won't bother you again-"

"Who... said... you could... make the decisions..." Richard gasped out.

"Dude! We're getting our asses kicked!"

"All... evildoers-" He broke off as the flames intensified, glowing white hot as they burned him.

"Looks like he still doesn't want to give up."

"Please," he got on his knees and put his hands on the ground. "I'm begging you. I - we made a mistake in coming here-"

"You think they'd show me mercy? You think they have _ever_shown mercy?"

"I... err-"

_"There is no mercy!" _

"Please! Wait!" Garfield noted the look of pure fury in the sorceress's eyes and moved forward to stop her, but then was overwhelmed as darkness flooded everywhere.

There was the sound of choking, then faint gasping, then a tiny cry of pain, and then silence...

"Raven!"

The darkness faded immediately. The sorceress stood there, very still, a pair of arms wrapped around her.

"Raven, please. We don't have to kill them. I know you're angry, but-"

Suddenly, fire burned up around her and Jinx drew back, burnt slightly, tears welling up in her eyes. Raven turned with blazing eyes. _"If you know I'm angry, then don't tell me to spare them. They all deserve to die."_

"I know, but-"

_"But what?"_

Jinx shrunk back. "We could be better than them."

Raven's brows furrowed. "Yes, that's it. Because they aren't the noble knights they are supposed to be, we should be noble in their stead. That would be the right thing to do."

"Rae-"

Raven's eyes flared with light and fire burst everywhere again, tearing through several of the knights' fallen forms, incinerating them. Jinx's eyes widened and she moved forward again, aghast.

"Raven, please don't do this. _Please-_" she drew back as the heat around the dark sorceress's body burned her again, clutching her hand.

_"You should not be here right now,"_ Raven hissed. _"You do not need to soil your eyes with the deaths of these maggots." _

Jinx bit her lip and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to fight down the words that wanted to spill out of her mouth. But as several more of the knights' bodies disappeared in the fire, she could bear it no longer.

"Then maybe I should leave," she whispered softly. "If you're just going to hurt people with your powers, there's no point in me staying here any more."

The fire lessened somewhat, faltering. Jinx looked under Raven's hood, at the four crimson eyes, at the perturbed expression on the other girl's face. She was fighting with herself, it appeared, unsure of what to do...

"Raven?"

The sorceress did not respond, her face a mixture of odd expressions, hatred evident in her eyes, but suddenly masked by fear, by emptiness... Raven turned away, clutching her head, retreating into the darkness, where at least she could be alone, coldly distant, feeling nothing...

"You should not be here," she whispered, more to herself than Jinx. "I should not have found you. I shouldn't..."

Jinx looked at her sadly, then turned as well, toward the marshes, where a path lay to her back to the outside world of mortals. She sighed. "I guess that's it then. If you don't want me here, I'm going."

She began walking down the frozen path, suddenly acutely aware of what was behind her, mostly Raven, still crouched over, fighting with herself. _Do I really want to do this? _

She took another look back, but Raven did not look up, did not acknowledge her, evidently lost in her own thoughts. She turned away again and made her way away from the darkness behind her._  
_

Deathly silence.

Stillness, for what seemed to be the longest time. Perhaps it was a long while, but time already had no meaning to her, so that did not matter. There was only numbness again, her physical form faded into naught but a frozen spirit.

And then it struck her. She turned and looked toward the marshes, where Jinx had gone.

"Wait!"

Silence. _Too late. _Raven slammed a fist against the ground and shuddered.

"Um..." the small knight said slowly, uncertainly. "What about us-"

_"Leave!"_

"Right, ma'am," he said hastily and backed away.

Raven took a few deep breaths, then stormed past him toward the forest, back toward darkness, and solitude.


	9. Raven and Solitude

Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine

"Speech"

_Thoughts _

* * *

It had been a long day, as it usually was for blacksmiths, who seemed to have a never ending list of things to do - making random utility things for people, doing repairs, making weapons for knights... the man sighed as he slung his knapsack over his back and began the long trek home - because for god knew what reason, his forge was situated a distance away from the village, although yes, there was a mine nearby so that made hauling ore a little easier.

All a moot point to a tired man.

He shivered a little as the heat from the forge wore off and the cold air set in. As twilight approached, everything always began to cool down, often much more than one might have expected, so he knew he had to hurry lest he get caught in the frozen darkness of winter, which could very easily kill a man if he was not careful. Which was why, as he hurried, he had to look twice as he saw a bit of color out of the corner of his eye to see what it actually was.

A girl, fast asleep against a tree, though she stirred a little as he approached her.

"Miss? What are you doing all the way out here alone? You'll freeze to death if you sleep there tonight."

Jinx opened one eye. "I'll be fine," she murmured softly. "Just... let me be alone."

"But-"

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Just go home."

"But you'll die-"

She sighed. "Thanks for your concern. But I won't. Now go home before it gets dark."

The man looked at her oddly one more time before continuing on his way, leaving Jinx alone in the fading twilight once again. She closed her eyes again and sighed. _Why did it come to this? Raven, why? Why did you never tell me you were a demon? _

She bit her lip. _You were probably afraid that I would leave you if you told me. If I knew from the start, would I have gone with you to begin with? Or am I judging you too harshly now just because you never told me? _Jinx shivered, though not from the cold. _Is being a demon in itself such a bad thing? Or are they just misunderstood as well? Guess I'll never find out, since she never tells me anything anyway. Ugh. Why are you so stubborn, Rae? I just want you to be happy._

_Okay, maybe that's not going to happen so easily. I just don't want you to be miserable and alone. _Jinx opened her eyes.

"I'm an idiot."

She looked around, watching as the darkness, very empty darkness, closed in around her. _Could I just go back? Yeah, fat chance. Just let me go waltzing back in there and say, "Yeah, remember when I said fuck you, I'm out of here? I didn't mean it. Still love ya babe." Like I could do that. Damn it all. _

_But I can't just let her go around destroying everyone too, can I? That would be bad. I mean, even if the fuckers deserve it... I don't even know what to think. Why am I even thinking so much? Justifying everything is like... something Raven would do. _She looked at the ground. _Raven... _She stood and began walking around, eyes slowing adjusting to the dark around her.

It reminded her of Avalon, though this forest felt peculiarly desolate, probably because it belonged to the harsh, mortal world and not to the magical timelessness of Avalon. Or maybe it was the absence of another presence there, another presence that, however moody, she had gotten used to and felt uncomfortable without. Yes, there was a measure of comfort there for sure.

_I guess they're right when they say "You don't know what you've got until you lose it." When you fuck up and lose everything important to you... Maybe not everything important. Look on the bright side of things. I'm still alive. I've still got all my powers, nobody hates my guts, I- I'm really stupid. Bright side of things my ass. I should've tried talking to her instead of being scared of her for no reason. Like, Rae's not that scary. Actually, no, she's goddamn scary. But still... I could've tried. _

_I did try. She was gonna kill me!_

_Maybe I caught her at a bad time. I should've tried again. She said she'd talk to me after but I didn't even give her a chance. I didn't even wait for her to answer me. What the fuck, Jinx. Why are you so stupid? _

She sighed again. _What do I do now?_

_Nothing, I suppose. I don't want to do anything. I just... _

_But you can't mope forever. _

She shook her head. _I can't. _And yet, as night fell, she still did not move.

* * *

"We need to go back-"

"Dude, we got our asses kicked with a bunch of guys there to back us up. And now you want us to go back alone, and injured?"

Richard rubbed his head, clearing away the dizziness, and clutched his ribs, which still stung a little. "Yes."

Victor rolled his eyes. "Hate to say it, dude, but the little man's right. We're not taking her down."

"Yeah! Wait, you called me little-"

"Save it for later, Gar."

Richard sighed. "We can't just let her go, though."

Garfield shrugged. "She didn't do anything wrong -" Richard glared at him. "Right, parents. My bad."

"But she's not an immediate threat," Victor pointed out. "Listen. There've been three messengers from villages near the shores a little bit north of here, saying that there have been raiders... inhuman raiders. Not your normal sort of bandit."

"So those guys Kori's country is fighting."

"Possibly. If we're about to get attacked too, now isn't the time to be chasing some elusive sorceress that we can't even fight. If anything, we might need to beg for her help-"

"Over my dead body," Richard hissed, getting up and storming out of the room.

They blinked as the door slammed.

"Obsessive much?"

"He doesn't listen to anyone when he gets stubborn like that," Victor sighed. "Can't blame the man though. He has personal reasons to hate her."

"But there are bigger problems-"

"I know that. And he knows that too. I guess it's partially my fault. I picked a bad time to mention that we might need her help."

"Think it's gonna be that bad?"

"Ya never know, little man."

"Hey!"

Victor chuckled. "Can't deny the truth, green bean. You're short, and that's that."

"Yeah, but I'm stronger than you."

The blue armored knight stood over him and raised an eyebrow. Garfield gave a sheepish smile. "Err- maybe not."

"Might want to work on standing your ground before bragging about your strength," he smirked. And then the smile dropped from his face. "Anyway, we should go look for him before he does something stupid."

"And for you to say you're sorry for-"

"I know."

* * *

The skeletons of burnt houses left faint columns of smoke rising into the air. Though it was winter, there was an odd heat in the air, crackling and scorching like that of fire. There _was _fire, still burning on the ground, burning a dangerous crimson color, unlike any fire that they had ever seen before.

A masked knight knelt by one of the pillars of flame, inspecting it carefully. After a few moments, he got up, and shaking his head, turned back to the two people behind him.

"It's magic, that's for sure," Roy muttered. "But that's all I can tell."

"Guess we'll have to ask Richard to come see," Garth replied.

"He won't be able to tell what it is either, if Roy can't. We need someone skilled at magic to figure out what this is."

"So a sorcerer. Karen, you know that's forbidden-"

"I wasn't suggesting we actually do it. We don't really need to figure out what this stuff is. Just what made it, and how to kill... whatever it was."

The dark skinned woman looked down at the ground, where there was an odd clawprint in the snow, definitely not that of any animal they had ever seen.

"A demon. That's what all the villagers are calling them."

"What's left of them anyway..."

"They're defenseless, Roy."

"Yeah, well that's because _Sir Richard _is too busy chasing someone else to figure out that we're going to need to defend our people eventually."

Garth and Karen looked at each other, then turned back to him. It was true, they all knew that the leader of the Titans could be overly obsessive sometimes, and now was definitely not a good time for that. Not that there ever was a good time for it, but not now, when they were under threat of being attacked.

It was particularly worrying because Kori was not someone unfamiliar to them, so they knew she was a very good warrior. And even she was, if not a little frightened by these things, then respectful of their strength. The country of Tamaran had a very powerful army, stronger than that of Camelot's, anyway, and even they were having trouble defending against these things.

The three of them turned back to the burnt village, where there were only a few buildings left standing.

Karen sighed. "Well, not much we can do here boys. Let's head back and go get some help for these people. And tell Richard to get his head out of his ass."

* * *

_It's been a long time. _He stretched his limbs. _I had forgotten what it was like to be free. Ah, the air is fresh here. Though, it does lack the heat of my homeworld. But that can be easily remedied. _

Two pairs of glowing eyes looked up at the sky, the unfamiliar blue sky, cloudless, where the sun was shining brightly, casting a warm glow over the land. _Although, it is not too bad here. Perhaps this world is just fine as it is. Though I did prefer Avalon. I should go visit sometime. I wonder if my daughter is still there. _

Screams reached his ears and he grimaced, eyes narrowing. _Foolish mortals. If you did not struggle, this would all be so much easier. _And put on a rather pensive expression. _Though, had you not antagonized me to begin with, perhaps this never would have happened. But you are all beyond hope. You proved that, didn't you, my dear Arella. _

_Though yes, it is presumptuous to assume that all mortals are the same. There are those who are possessed of a different breed. Sorceresses, they are known to ordinary mortals, though the name matters not. They have proven to be a little more receptive than the ordinary blind man. Perhaps not by much._

_Mortals are all blinded by appearances and desires. What seems to be an anomaly is one. What appears as gold is gold. What they deem as justice is justice. There is nothing else, save for what they sense and feel. _A smirk crossed his features. _It is not a bad way of living, for the mind that is so confined by the limitations of a mortal life. But those of us who think and see more cannot live this way, for we feel and wonder about the world as a whole, about everything and how we live in it, not just ourselves as individuals. Desire becomes irrelevant, even our own lives become insignificant. And so in the end we can only do what we feel._

_In that regard, perhaps I am no better than a mortal, for I have reached the same conclusion while knowing more. The only difference is power. Yes, I am the one who purges, by fire, the ignorant and the stupid, those who know nothing and think they are fit to judge the world. A fool who does not know that he is a fool has no place in this plane of existence._

The screams died away and he got up, watching as smoke rose into the sky and the stench of blood filled the air.

_Perhaps I am a fool as well. Yes, we are all fools. It is merely the extent to which we realizes it that defines our worth. And it does not matter whether I purge those who are worth nothing or not. The outcome is the same. _

"Do you understand?" He murmured, voice a deep, low rasp. "Or must I tell you this, I wonder? We shall see."

* * *

The ravaged land, or rather, its ravaged people, the land itself left relatively untouched, save for a few fires burning here and there, though curiously they seemed to burn a little bit above the ground, requiring nothing to continue burning, their immense heat scorching the air. But as Jinx drew closer to one, it became apparent that the fire itself was no warmer than a normal fire - merely, it radiated more heat and in a wider radius, almost like a miniature sun. Except for the fact that it was crimson.

The area around the fire was warm enough, but there was something unnatural about them - probably the fact that they were obviously magical in nature - that made people stay away from them and go back to the uncomfortable cold. Perhaps it was because she was a sorceress and so she was used to it, or maybe because the aura of the fires reminded her of Raven, but they did not repel her so much. If anything, there was something alluring about their mystic luster, something very entrancing. Too entrancing.

She tore her gaze away and looked back at the burnt village, biting her lip. _Should I go? Or... _It would have been easy to just pretend that she was some random traveler, or better yet, a girl who had also lost her home in the raids, but some part of her wanted to help these people, and to do that, she required her powers. Though there wasn't really that much she could do with them. Raven was the one with healing, and with the ability to fix things. All she could do was destroy.

_Unless... I can somehow manipulate good luck too... That would be asking too much, wouldn't it? I guess I can try... _

Jinx got up and walked over to one of the buildings, touching the cold, wet wood. _Good luck huh... so maybe it was good luck that the fire only burned down their house but the pieces of wood that were on fire fell away before anything inside got burned. _

Pink light flared up and inside, food began to appear, tables and chairs remade themselves, a loom was recreated, everything began to reform. Jinx blinked a few times, then smiled. _Damn. Didn't know I could do that. Figures being able to do stuff with bad luck means you can do the opposite too. _She looked at the house. _Though, not really much I can do about that. They'll have to rebuild that themselves. But the rest... _

She walked between the buildings, sending her powers into them and watching as things began recreating themselves. Though, she noted, that anything that seemed to be completely destroyed or gone was not remade - some houses lacked any sort of furniture after her magic finished its work, and others were missing the metal cross that hung over every mantle - the whole country was Christian now, so that was rather commonplace.

Passing through a store, she smiled a little as most of the wares reappeared on the shelves, though there were a few empty spaces here and there.

A child came out of a nearby building and hid behind the corner of one of the still standing buildings, watching her do her work. She noticed him and after a couple moments of staring at each other, she went inside the half-rebuilt store and took a couple apples from the ruins of the storeroom and offered one to him, smiling slightly. He smiled back and reached out to grab it-

"Thomas! What are you doing?!"

A woman rushed out of the building and hurried him away, glaring at Jinx.

"But mommy-"

"Shush. Go inside."

"But mommy, I'm hungry."

"We'll get you some gruel to eat. Just go inside."

The boy put on an annoyed face, but did as his mother told him to, and disappeared into the building. The woman gave a warning glare to Jinx again, before following her child, leaving Jinx out in the cold.

The pink haired sorceress sighed. _Now I know how Raven felt. I mean, I'm not exactly saving lives, but couldn't they be just a little grateful to me for trying to help? Or at least not be rude. __I guess the kid wasn't scared though. Just the old hag._

Jinx passed by a few more buildings and restored them the best she could before moving on out of the village, somewhat unsatisfied. _Okay. Very unsatisfied. But nothing's ever easy. __Can't expect things to go great the first time around. Right?_

She looked at the sky, watching the clouds drift slowly across it, occasionally blotting out the sun, white puffs against a clear background. It was funny that the daylight seemed too harsh to her; she knew that ordinarily, this would be considered a beautiful day, but probably because she had lived in Avalon for so long, the light was grating and unwelcome - she was used to dimmer light.

And, beautiful day or not, there was nothing beautiful about walking around and everywhere, seeing homes razed, the corpses of the dead littering the ground, blood staining the white snow... as far as sympathy went, she did feel bad for the people who were the victims of these attacks, though her empathy was a little limited by the fact that she knew they wouldn't be grateful if she tried to help them. But she still wanted to help. Part of her couldn't avoid that urge, to do _something _while everyone was in trouble, to at least be somewhat useful, but then part of her sympathized with Raven, who must've had years - decades... centuries - of dealing with ungrateful people who never recognized that she was saving their lives.

And long years of being alone. Jinx bit her lip. _And I only made her suffer again. Why am I so selfish? Ugh. __I supposed I was thinking about what I wanted. But I don't even want to be away from her! I just don't want her to be so... so... destructive. And angry and all that shit. I just wish she felt a little better about people. Hell, I wish_ _**I **felt better about people. _

_I guess it all comes down to helping people even though you know they're shit. Playin' the saint here... _

Jinx looked up as she sensed another presence somewhere nearby, a dark, malicious presence that seemed as if it belonged to something unliving. Or rather, something that had never been living at all, maybe some sort of magical construction. She shuddered as it began moving again and hurried forward, not wanting to wait for it to catch up to her. But it seemed to be faster than she was, quickly closing in on her, filling the air with some sort of foul stench, though it was not really a smell - more of a sensation of danger. Panic sprung up in her, but she fought it down quickly and continued moving, not daring to look back.

And suddenly, its presence was everywhere, scorching the air with raw heat, its potent aura seeming as if it were suffocating her. She fought it off, struggling to keep her terror in check, trying to run, but her feet moved at an achingly slow pace, her body not obeying her mind's command. Without having to look, she knew it was right behind her, the burning flames practically searing the clothes off her back, but she still didn't turn.

The creature stopped as she did, mirroring her own movements as though it were stalking her, but it must have known that she was aware of its presence. Perhaps it was just deciding not to be hostile, or perhaps it was even wary of her. Jinx focused all of her energy into sensing it, working her way through the dense, fiery aura, toward its body.

It noticed her probing, shifted, then moved away, taking its uncomfortable heat away with it. And slowly, ever so slowly, she turned her head and looked behind her, then breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that there was nothing there.

And then blinked. Were her eyes fooling her?

It had been there for just a moment, so she couldn't be too sure, but she thought she had seen dead bodies, scattered all about, and among them, a dark cloaked figure that seemed suspiciously like...

_No. It was just my imagination. Great. Now I'm going crazy. _

She took a deep breath and sat, holding her head. _Calm down. Calm down. Calm down... _And without realizing it, she began crying, tears streaming down her face, shaking slightly as she buried her face in her hands.

* * *

_Alone again. _In the darkness, where there was no light or sound, an empty void bereft of all sensation. The all too familiar numbness, which now she knew she loathed, yet could not live without; like a drug, it was there, addictive, alluring, chilling. A form of painkiller, though what pain did she have to kill?

_People come. People go. In this endless cycle, individuals are droplets of water in the vast ocean, each one insignificant, each one no different than any other. It does not matter which droplet flows past this point in space and time. Just another soul. Just another one... As am I. What does it matter what I want? In the end, I am nothing. _She closed her eyes. _I was only something when you were around. _

_Now, I am not even part of that ocean anymore. I am merely a grain of salt, cast ashore. And like all other minerals, absorbed back into the earth from which I came, feeling nothing, being nothing. _She tried to clench her hand, but could not feel the muscles move. _Feeling nothing... it is an odd sensation, but maybe it is better. _She gritted her teeth. _And yet I hate it. _

_There is something there, right beyond my reach, something waiting, but just out of sight, something that spurns me like a cur, and so dangles itself right before my nose, and is gone as I reach for it. _Frowning deeply, flecks of black and grey flew wildly through her violet eyes, though she kept her face calm. _This pain... how can I deal with it? I am not strong enough to bear it head on... And yet I try. In the end, it will tear me apart, if it has not done so already. Heart and soul against mind and body. Once detached, now one cannot live without the other. One is dying. And so the other fades with it._

_To weep, envy. To desire, lust. To live, pride. The vices that grip our lives can only be banished in death. _Around her, darkness swirled dangerously, crackling with energy. _Death. It is always there, right at the outskirts of my senses, and all that remains to be done is welcome it. After that... _She bared her body, feeling the sheer power surge around her. Her back arched, chest pushed out, mouth opened in a silent scream, nerves overloaded with pure feeling. And then it tore in, rending her soul, sapping her of all energy away, leaving her drained, gasping for air. _A natural reflex. When the body feels like it is dying... _She coughed violently a few times as the energy kept tearing into her, then collapsed to her knees, feeling the sensation of life within her body fading quickly. _  
_

But not quickly enough. The other half of her, the other half that she fought to keep in control because of its hatred for mortals, protested, fighting back against the darkness surrounding her body. _No! This is what I want. This is what I need-_

Yet her basic instinct - _no, not mine. My demon half's - _still would not give in, and she could feel her heart beating shakily, trying to withstand the assault on her body. The darkness about her lessened, faltering, and she could feel the life return to her. She let out a long, low gasp. _Please! _

The storm, whirling about her, intensified once more and this time, tore at her physical body, shredding her flesh, rending her apart, and through the pain, she could feel the cold bliss of death waiting for her. Finally, the calm in her face broke and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, anger... no, despair?... written plainly there, though at least there was nobody there to see it. _Nobody to see me in such a pathetic state. _

Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth as another wave of power wracked her body, but then suddenly it began dying away as something within her fought it off. The slightest sensation of uneasiness, but it was enough. Everything died away and she was alone again, laying there on the ground, body broken and bleeding, but still alive.

_Damn it. _She tried to move, but most of her muscles had been torn to shreds, past their point of functionality, and several of her organs had been damaged. _One of them was damaged. The one that governs the soul, that brings life, which I forfeit long ago... at least I'm finishing the act now. _She knew she was dying - the injuries were too severe. Had she been a weaker person, she would've died already, but as it was, death merely began encroaching on her senses, until she was only aware of her own, shallow breathing, and the fading emotions in her eyes.

And the ravens flocking around her. As soon as she realized what they were doing - as soon as she realized that she _wasn't quite dead yet _- her eyes flew open.

"No..." she whispered. "Why?"

They swirled around, healing her damaged body, crying softly as they ruffled their feathers against her. She closed her eyes again, refusing to look, a terrible sense of failure filling her heart.

"Why?" She whispered again, voice trembling.

_Because, _their dark stares seemed to reply. _It is not time for you to die yet. You are not as worthless as you seem, Raven. _

Raven sat up, feeling a slight sense of warmth - and pain - return to her. "I wanted to die so badly," she murmured. "I wanted-"

One of the raven's eyes flashed pink, as if to contradict her. She bowed her head, violet hair falling around her like a curtain.

_I was always the selfish one. Despite the fact that I can so clearly discern what other people feel, I never gave a shit about what they wanted. It was always about me. Me, me, me. What do I want? What do I think? Such hubris... _Her mouth curved downward. _I never even bothered to care about what Jinx wanted. I'm so stupid. I'm so... _

Her lips pressed into a thin, hard line. _Would you forgive me? Would you... _A light sigh. _No. Nothing to break this solitude now. Never again. Enough is enough. _She looked around at the ravens, who had begun to move away from her again.

_I must feel nothing. I musn't think about these things. Breathe slowly. In, out. Azarath, metrion... zinthos... _She whispered the three words again, trying to calm herself, to regain control.

"Azarath, metrion, zinthos... Azarath, metrion, zinthos..."

Void. Nothingness. Complete emptiness. Drifting away in timeless, spaceless oblivion, completely and utterly motionless, not herself anymore, but a wisp of energy, flowing in the massive universe, the stars, the heavenly bodies spinning around her... eons passing, unperturbed, in final, blissful peace, a peace that was not death, but wholeness with everything... traveling through the endless space, infinite darkness broken only by the specks of colored light, deep crimson, glowing azure, bright gold, lustrous pink-

_Jinx. _She shook her head violently. _I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. Calm down. Subdue all emotion. I don't care about anything - _

A drop of water dripped down from her chin and hit the ground. She gritted her teeth, and mouth trembling, forced herself to be silent, desperately trying to regain some of that lost numbness.


End file.
